New Delhi: Renewable Energy is "no longer just a climate imperative but also an economic and strategic necessity," German Ambassador to India Philipp Ackermann said, as India and Germany used a high-level panel discussion in New Delhi to position clean energy as a buffer against fossil-fuel price shocks.
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Ackermann was speaking at the 10th edition of the GSDP Conversation Series, hosted by the Indo-German Partnership for Green and Sustainable Development (GSDP) with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) under the theme 'Energy Security through Renewable Energies.' The discussion, which marked 75 years of India-Germany diplomatic relations, brought together MNRE officials, industry leaders, think tanks and renewable energy experts, according to a statement.
The two countries "share a common challenge of reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels and increasing energy independence," the ambassador said, describing renewables as "a powerful 'trinity' of climate action, economic opportunity, and energy security." India had made significant progress on deployment, he added, with renewable sources contributing around 26 percent of electricity generation.
Presenting India's priorities, MNRE Secretary Santosh Kumar Sarangi tied the case for renewables directly to recent geopolitical volatility. "The recent crisis in West Asia has once again highlighted the critical importance of energy security," he said. "Renewable energy, including solar, wind, battery energy storage systems and green hydrogen — has immense potential to strengthen energy security while supporting sustainable development."
Sarangi said the country was firmly on track with its clean energy build-out. "India has made significant progress, with non-fossil fuel sources now accounting for approximately 54 percent of the country's installed electricity capacity, and we remain firmly committed to achieving 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030," he said. "As trusted partners in the global energy transition, India and Germany can continue to work together to drive innovation, mobilise investment, and advance our shared goals of energy security, sustainable development and climate action."
India has set a target of achieving 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2070, with solar, wind and energy storage identified as the key technologies for reducing fossil-fuel dependence and supporting a low-carbon economy.
"India's rapid economic growth and rising energy needs have made energy security one of the most critical pillars of national development," the statement said. Reliable and affordable energy, it added, is "essential for sustaining economic growth and achieving the vision of 'Viksit Bharat'" and a USD 30 trillion GDP by 2047.
The two countries are working together across "renewable energy (deployment and manufacturing, battery storage, grid integration), energy efficiency and transition of the hard-to-abate sectors, green urban mobility, biodiversity, climate change mitigation and adaptation, sustainable urban development and vocational education," the statement said. Germany has been a long-standing partner in India's energy transition, with joint work spanning renewable expansion, power-sector reform, transmission and distribution, energy storage, green hydrogen, climate finance and skills development.
During the discussion, the statement said, speakers "underscored the need to scale up renewable energy, invest in energy storage and grid modernisation, and strengthen public-private collaboration." The next phase of India's transition, it noted, would span generation, transmission, distribution, storage, financing, domestic manufacturing and the electrification of energy-intensive sectors. It cited the NITI Aayog's Pathway to Net Zero, published in February 2026, as cautioning that "the real risk to Net Zero implementation is whether the system can absorb, transmit, finance, and reliably use that cleaner power at scale."
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Alongside Ackermann and Sarangi, the panel featured ReNew co-founder and chairperson of sustainability Vaishali Nigam Sinha, and ORF fellow and lead for climate change and energy Aparna Roy. The GSDP, launched in 2022, is a strategic cooperation framework supporting climate-aligned development in line with the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement, the statement said.
