The shift fuelling country's growth engine

India aims to be developed by 2047 and net-zero by 2070, requiring a transformative energy transition to achieve these goals

- SHREYA JAI & SUBHAYAN CHAKRABORTY

India's largest coal-fired power generator, NTPC, marked its golden jubilee last month with the listing of its renewable energy (RE) company, NTPC Green Energy, on the Indian stock exchanges. The move underscores the transition India's energy sector is witnessing.

From exporting oil and mining coal to building mega hydro dams, and now focusing on solar panels and biofuels, the country's energy journey reflects its socio-economic growth. Over the past 25 years, India has seen the evolution of its public sector undertakings (PSUs), energy access schemes, regulatory frameworks, private investment, and a push towards RE.

Striking oil, but...

Understanding India's energy landscape requires going back in time to the late 19th century, when an English engineer discovered oil fields in Assam. His persistent instruction of "dig boy, dig" to the labour saw the emergence of India's first oil town, Digboi. However, it was only after the mid-1900s that the country set up its oil giants - from the government-owned explorer, ONGC, to marketing companies like IOCL, BPCL, and HPCL.

Since 2000, a lot has changed in terms of private and foreign participation and technological advancements, but this progress has been tempered by stagnant domestic production, rising imports, and the constant threat of foreign conflicts driving up fuel prices at home. ONGC had discovered the Bombay High oil field (now called Mumbai High) 160 km into the Arabian Sea off India's western coast in 1974.

The project, which has gone through four redevelopment plans and accounts for 70 per cent of India's domestic oil production, prompted the government to open up oil and gas exploration to the private sector. And in 1999, just before the turn of the century, it launched the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP).