Suman Bery Calls for Balanced Public-Private Energy Overhaul

On Thursday, Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Suman Bery said India’s energy market requires a fresh approach as the country advances its energy transition. During the conferences organized by CII on Energy Security, he pointed out that there must be a moderate balance between the public and the private in ensuring efficiency, resilience and innovativeness.

In a hydrocarbon market, Berry noted that the current market structure requires transformation. He pointed out how the historic leadership of the state-run firms in the hydrocarbons and electricity production cannot remain the same with the introduction of cleaner and more varied sources of energy in India.

Our energy market, particularly the hydrocarbons, needs to be rethought concerning its structure. He believes that energy efficiency, resilience, and innovation will rely on a balanced combination of both the public and private involvement.

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He further explained that energy security does not only involve supply. It is also based on affordability, diversification as well as the resilience of the system to shocks. The future he believes will not be propelled by new findings but rather by making whatever is already available bigger and cheaper such as solar, hydrogen and other renewables will become accessible and affordable.

According to Bery, the previous emphasis on availability, access, and affordability should be added with sustainability and micro level access to energy. He pointed out that India has achieved significant gains in delivering electricity to more people, but it is necessary to ensure that the affordability remains high to avoid the transition towards a high-cost system.

The same sentiments have been reiterated by CII Core Group on Energy Security Chairman Prabh Das, who proposed a move toward the complementary, as opposed to the rivalry among energy sources. We want to have complements rather than competition of sources of energy.