
For a growing India, electricity is a prime requirement. It propels economic activity. Today NLCIL has the capacity to produce 100 MW per day. India has the fourth largest quantum of coal resources. I believe that clean coal technologies would evolve over the year, fuelling economic activity.
Due to climate change, governments are advocating to diversify into renewable energy. In line with that, NLCIL has shifted focus towards solar and wind. Around 1470 MW of energy is from renewables in our energy mix and in that 1370 MW is from solar. NLC plans to increase solar power to 4500 MW and wind to 150 MW by 2030. In the years to come, solar and wind energy will mature and we would be in a position to move towards green hydrogen and green nitrogen. This would become the primary sources for the transport and steel sector.
We have also invested in a Rs 4500 crore project that aims to convert lignite to methanol. Similarly, we need to develop breakthrough technologies that capture carbon dioxide and convert that to either urea or ammonia.
Climate change has provided us with a great opportunity to explore newer forms of energy sources.

Every crisis throws open an opportunity. 30 years ago, in 1991, India was at a handshaking distance away from economic bankruptcy. Two wisemen, Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, and Dr Manmohan Singh led the way forward. Growth since then must be attributed to the bold economic move of dusting the cobwebs of socialism and embracing market economy. The growth between 1991 to 2022 has been phenomenal, but what is going to happen in the next 25 years will determine the future of the world’s highly populated country.
When the history of the modern world is written, 2019 will have a special mention. The once in a century pandemic, imprisoned 9 billion people in their homes. The fact that today we do a webinar, have capabilities of work from home and moving most of our activities to online are all due to this.
India was one of the few countries that had growth even during this period. This has increased the world’s confidence in India and we are one of the major trusted partners. With several manufacturing behemoths shunning China and setting up shops in India and with the country having a strong international voice, the time is right for the country to leap forward towards growth.
