India to be electricity-based economy eventually, says R K Singh

Power Minister R K Singh on Monday said India will eventually be an electricity-based economy, as the nation is embarking on power usage for running vehicles and cooking food.

"The entire power sector is going through change and this change will continue. We want to electrify our whole economy. The energy would be through electricity rather than through petroleum products or other forms of energy," Singh said at a function to mark 10 years of state-run Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) here.

The minister said, "Besides mobility, the next target would be cooking by electricity. So, we will electrify the economy and make electricity green (generation through renewable). Those are our long-term goals."
Lauding the business models provided by EESL to promote energy efficiency on the occasion, Singh said, "Business model, that is what works. You can have subsidy models. I have found through experience that the subsidy model does not work as well as a business model. That is what EESL brought in energy efficiency. The business model made it possible to replace agriculture (water) pumps with energy-efficient pumps."