New Delhi: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal urged India’s energy storage industry to reduce its reliance on imports from specific countries and diversify supply sources to build a more resilient ecosystem. Speaking at an event on energy storage on Thursday, Goyal emphasised the importance of developing alternate sourcing strategies and strengthening domestic capabilities.
"We must work to prevent distortions. We must reduce our dependency on particular geographies and look at alternative sources of supply, where we can have resilience in our supply chain," he said.
The minister encouraged the industry to invest in research and development to create innovative products and reduce dependence on imports. He said adopting newer technologies would be critical for building self-sufficiency in the energy storage sector.
His remarks come amid ongoing supply chain challenges in sectors like automobiles, which are facing constraints due to China’s export restrictions on rare earth magnets. Similar issues have emerged from China's curbs on fertiliser exports, affecting Indian stakeholders.
Goyal also called for collective efforts from all stakeholders to develop a robust EV ecosystem. "All industry stakeholders should join hands to develop charging and battery swapping infrastructure for faster EV adoption," he said.
He added that the industry should also look to scale manufacturing in emerging areas such as critical minerals and semiconductors. The government, he said, is already undertaking initiatives to bolster domestic production.
Highlighting India’s progress in renewable energy, Goyal said, "There is a remarkable 4,000 percent increase in our installed solar capacity, our overall renewable energy capacity stands at 227 GW," adding, "today solar photovoltaic module capacity has increased nearly 38-fold and our solar photovoltaic cell capacity has increased 21-fold."