How India is building energy sovereignty, brick by brick

Energy sovereignty on large scale cannot be achieved overnight. It is built steadily through factories, infrastructure, and changing habits — brick by brick, factory by factory, citizen by citizen

Energy is the bedrock of modern economic life. For a country that imports nearly nine out of every ten barrels of the oil it consumes, securing it is not one policy question among others. It is the policy question of the century. India faces it more sharply than most: as the world’s third-largest crude importer, with the largest two-wheeler base on the planet and a passenger vehicle market still in its early growth stage, how the country powers its mobility will shape household budgets, the rupee, and its strategic standing for decades.

The structural answer has, over the past decade, become clear and globally visible — the gradual transition of mobility from petrol and diesel to electric. The International Energy Agency notes that the world’s electric vehicle stock displaced more than 1.3 million barrels of oil a day in 2024, and projects that figure to cross five million by 2030. India, under the leadership of Narendra Modi, has been positioning itself for this transition over the past decade.

At the centre of that effort sits PM E-DRIVE — the Prime Minister Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement scheme. Launched in October 2024 with an outlay of Rs 10,900 crore and recently extended to March 2028, it supports 24.79 lakh electric two-wheelers, 3.16 lakh electric three-wheelers, 14,028 electric buses across nine cities, electric trucks and ambulances, and a nationwide charging backbone worth Rs 2,000 crore. At a national conference in Bengaluru earlier this week, an additional 4,874 EV chargers across several states were approved.

The early returns are visible. India sold over 25.5 lakh electric vehicles in the last financial year — a 25 per cent year-on-year jump, taking the electric share to 8.64 per cent of all automobile sales. Penetration in the electric three-wheeler passenger segment has crossed 33 per cent.

The 16.72 lakh vehicles already supported by demand incentives are saving the country around Rs 0.14 crore worth of fuel every day. Each vehicle, cumulatively, represents a barrel of crude no longer imported into the country.

PM E-DRIVE alone cannot deliver this transition. Consumer subsidy is merely the visible end of a much longer supply chain — batteries, magnets, components, and complete vehicles.

A connected set of schemes addresses that larger ecosystem. The Production-Linked Incentive for Automobiles and Auto Components (Rs 25,938 crore) anchors advanced automotive manufacturing. The PLI for Advanced Chemistry Cells (Rs 18,100 crore) is taking domestic battery production to gigawatt scale — historically the largest cost component in an imported EV.

The Scheme for Rare Earth Magnets (Rs 7,280 crore) addresses a supply chain in which global capacity is concentrated in very few hands, and upon which an Aatmanirbhar Bharat in mobility cannot afford to remain dependent. The Scheme to Promote Manufacturing of Electric Passenger Cars in India, opened to global applicants in June 2025, brings world-leading EV manufacturers to Indian

soil with a minimum committed investment of Rs 4,150 crore each. Behind these schemes lies employment for young Indian engineers, technicians, and ITI graduates.

Public transport carries the same logic at scale. Buses account for nearly 60 per cent of all passenger kilometres in India. Two schemes support their electrification: PM E-DRIVE’s Rs 4,391 crore allocation for 14,028 buses, and the PM e-Bus Sewa Payment Security Mechanism, with an outlay of Rs 3,435.33 crore, supporting over 38,000 additional electric buses by guaranteeing operator payments when a State Transport Undertaking delays payment.

That single guarantee removes a financial obstacle that no subsidy alone could address. Bengaluru is set to receive 4,500 buses in the current phase, Hyderabad 2,000, Delhi 2,800, Ahmedabad 1,000, and Surat 600.

None of this work began because of the present international situation, but recent developments have made its value abundantly clear. Global oil markets have experienced significant volatility since late February, with disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz affecting major shipping routes. India imports 88 per cent of its crude oil and spent 174.9 billion dollars — 22 per cent of total imports — on crude and petroleum products in 2025-26. Several major Asian and European economies witnessed retail fuel prices rise by twenty to thirty per cent during this period. Prices at Indian petrol pumps, however, moved only marginally — the result of diversified sourcing, prudent fiscal management, and the resilience of our oil marketing companies.

It is in this context that the Prime Minister’s recent appeal — to consume less petrol, carpool, use the metro, and shift to electric vehicles when changing one’s vehicle - has found a country increasingly prepared. The carpool the Prime Minister referred to, scaled to the level of the city, is the electric bus already arriving in Bengaluru and Hyderabad. The shift to electric mobility is now a practical choice available to the average citizen, often at a lower running cost than petrol or diesel vehicles.

The same effort is visible on the diplomatic front in the Prime Minister’s ongoing five-nation tour covering the United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, and Italy from May 15 to 20. The agreements signed in Abu Dhabi this week — including a Memorandum of Understanding on Strategic Petroleum Reserves and a long-term arrangement for the supply of Liquefied Petroleum Gas — strengthen India’s energy supply lines for the years ahead. Discussions underway in the Nordic capitals are advancing cooperation in clean technology, battery chemistry, and green industrial growth.

What is important across all these initiatives is how they fit together. The manufacturing schemes create the production base. PM E-DRIVE places alternative vehicles within reach of ordinary citizens.

The Payment Security Mechanism puts electric buses onto Indian roads. The Prime Minister’s appeal encourages citizens to make choices that this architecture now enables. Diplomatic outreach secures the inputs and partnerships necessary for the future. Each forms part of one national project. Energy sovereignty on this scale cannot be achieved overnight. It is built steadily through factories, infrastructure, and changing habits — brick by brick, factory by factory, citizen by citizen.

What has been set in motion under the Prime Minister’s leadership over the past decade gives India, today, more options than ever before at a time of international energy uncertainty.

The vision of Viksit Bharat by 2047 rests, in part, on precisely this work, which will continue.

What has been set in motion under the Prime Minister's leadership over the past decade gives India, today, more options than ever before at a time of international energy uncertainty.

The vision of Viksit Bharat by 2047 rests, in part, on precisely this work, which will continue

The writer is the Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Steel; Views presented are personal.