Avaada Group founder and chairman Vineet Mittal urged India to lift electricity’s share of energy use to 40% within a decade, arguing the shift could curb imported-fuel reliance as the country pursues its 2047 development ambition.
NDTV reported that Mittal made the proposal at the NDTV World Summit 2026 on Oct. 22. The summit agenda listed him in a session on India’s energy decisions.
The Bureau of Energy Efficiency estimated India’s final energy consumption in fiscal 2024-25 at 722.4 million tonnes of oil equivalent when biomass and biofuels are included. Excluding those fuels, its estimate was 603 million tonnes of oil equivalent. Electricity totaled 140 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe), or about 19.4% of the broader total and 23.2% of the narrower one.
NDTV also reported Mittal’s estimate that India imports nearly $200 billion of oil and gas annually and around 80% of its fuel. Separately, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said imports cover almost 90% of India’s oil consumption. It put the bill for crude oil and oil products at $178.7 billion in fiscal 2023-24, down from $209 billion in fiscal 2022-23; the earlier figure was about 6.2% of gross domestic product. Those figures cover different periods and categories, so they are not directly comparable with Mittal’s estimate.
The IMF cited oil prices rising above $100 a barrel after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as context for the larger 2022-23 bill. Calculations combining Reserve Bank of India staff estimates and market analysts’ price elasticities, as described in the IMF report, put the effect of oil prices staying $10 a barrel higher for a year at about 0.4% of GDP added to India’s current account deficit.
NDTV reported that Mittal discussed green hydrogen fuel cells and green methanol for vehicles, while saying affordability remains a challenge.
