India to lead the green energy export by 2050, says Adani

22 Nov 2022 CW Team

According to Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani group, India will take the lead in the global energy transition and become a net exporter of green energy by 2050.

“Cooling the planet down will be one of the most profitable businesses and the largest of job creators over the next several decades. I am in no doubt that India will lead the global energy transition,” Adani said while addressing the World Congress of Accountants in Mumbai.

He declared that the Adani group will invest more than USD 70 billion in green energy over the following ten years, creating the most comprehensive renewable energy value chain in the world.

Adani asserted that there is little doubt that India's energy transition will be exceptional as it tries to meet its energy needs, predicting that by 2050, it will require 400% more energy units than it currently uses.

India is currently the third-largest energy consumer in the world and ranks third in the attractiveness of renewable energy.

Adani added that the marginal cost of green power is on its way to "zero" given the sharp and ongoing decline in the price of renewable energy, particularly solar power.

“The ability of this ‘zero’ cost electron to economically split a water molecule and create 100 per cent green hydrogen in the future is now certain. The combination of solar and wind power coupled with green hydrogen opens up unprecedented possibilities for India,” the Adani group chairman further added.

According to Adani, over the next 28 years, India's population will increase by 15% to 1.6 billion people, but per capita income will increase by more than 700% to roughly USD 16,000 per person. India currently has a per capita income of about 2,200 USD.

Adani expressed his confidence in India's ability to take advantage of its demographic dividend, which will boost consumption and hasten the development of a tax-paying society. He emphasised that even in 2050, India's median age will be 38 and that an unprecedented increase in demand will be caused by the rise in per capita income. As a result, both private and public spending will soar, and the amount of foreign direct investment will be at its highest.

He stated that India is anticipated to record a 15% increase and an all-time high of over USD 100 billion in FDI this year to bolster his argument.

“Such scale of investments laid the foundation for significant job expansion,” he said.

“It took us 58 years to get our first trillion dollars of GDP, 12 years to get the next trillion and just five years for the third trillion. Given the pace at which the Government has been executing a vast multitude of simultaneous social and economic reforms, I anticipate that within the next decade, India will start adding a trillion dollars to its GDP every 12 to 18 months,” he further added.