India needs to make more of its own solar equipment, improve energy storage and build stronger power infrastructure to meet its future energy needs, Dr Bondada Raghavendra Rao, Chairman and Managing Director of Bondada Group, said.
The Hyderabad-based infrastructure solutions provider has entered the electric mobility space with Thuraga Motors.
Speaking to Alexander Mats at the NDTV World Summit 2026, Rao said these steps are important for India's clean energy plans and its goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2070.
He asserted that India has the talent, money and resources to expand its energy sector. However, the country still depends on other nations for some important parts needed to produce and store electricity.
"India has all the capabilities. People, money, capital, that is speed of execution," Rao said during the session titled "The Infrastructure Edge: Building India's Next Growth Story".
#NDTVWorldSummit | The Infrastructure Edge: Building India's Next Growth Story Dr. Bondada Raghavendra Rao (@bondadaRR), Chairman & Managing Director, Bondada Group, speaks to @alexandermats https://t.co/0twfUEpisD
— NDTV (@ndtv) October 23, 2026
India has increased its ability to manufacture solar modules, used to convert sunlight into electricity. However, it still imports solar wafers and ingots, which are used to make solar cells. Rao said India needs to build factories to make these parts locally instead of depending on other countries.
"We have built sufficient capacities of modules. But in the same way, you need to look forward for the next 10, 15 years," he said.
He added that India should plan for its future energy needs now and reduce its dependence on imports. This would also help the country reduce the money it spends on buying equipment from abroad.
Rao added that solar power depends on sunlight, so India needs ways to store electricity and use it when required. He said India currently depends almost entirely on imports for lithium-ion battery cells. The country should also explore other battery technologies, including vanadium redox flow batteries.
These batteries can store electricity for longer periods. Rao said they can provide power for 10 to 12 hours or more, while lithium iron phosphate batteries generally store power for around four to six hours.
He also pointed out that vanadium is available in India but is not being widely used. "Vanadium is plenty available in India," Rao said, adding that the country needs to focus on extracting and using the metal for energy storage.
Rao said his company has received a 100 megawatt-hour vanadium redox flow battery storage project from NTPC. He said such projects could help test and expand the use of this technology in India.
He also highlighted the growing demand for electricity from data centres. These facilities support digital services and artificial intelligence (AI) systems and need a continuous power supply.
He said India currently has a total installed power capacity of around 533 gigawatts (GW), of which about 281 GW comes from non-fossil fuel sources. This means more than half of India's installed power capacity now comes from sources that do not rely on fossil fuels, according to the figures he shared.
Rao said the country is already moving towards this target, with capacity nearing 300 GW. By 2047, India aims to meet 50% of its energy requirements through non-fossil fuel sources. "To reach net zero emissions by 2070, the country would need to expand its non-fossil fuel power capacity to around 6,800-7,000 GW," he added.
Rao warned that increasing capacity alone would not be enough. India must also ensure that electricity reaches these facilities without interruptions.
"Data centres run by power, actually. Round-the-clock power," he said. "You need to have no power disruption, not even nanoseconds, allowed."
He explained that India needs to improve not just electricity generation but also transmission and storage. Green energy corridors and better storage facilities will be important to ensure a steady power supply.