Vedanta CEO warns US tariffs risk slowing global energy transition

Vedanta CEO Deshnee Naidoo cautioned that US tariffs could slow global decarbonisation, stressing India must prioritise critical minerals and domestic value chains

Vedanta Resources chief executive Deshnee Naidoo has said new trade tariffs could threaten the pace of the global energy transition, even as India pushes ahead with its most ambitious renewable targets while keeping coal as its energy backbone.

 

Speaking at an industry event, Naidoo said the 50 per cent tariffs announced by Donald Trump on Indian exports would not hit the economy broadly because domestic consumption drives most of its growth, but it could fragment global decarbonisation efforts. “The GDP impact will be less than 0.5 per cent at a macro level. But tariffs absolutely risk slowing down the pace as well as the scale of the energy transition of the world,” she said.

 

She also underlined that coal will remain a core part of India’s energy system even as renewable capacity grows rapidly. “Coal will still be the base load,” Naidoo said. “The smart game we are playing in India is recognising that the economic transformation this country needs can only come from an energy transformation, not necessarily an energy transition.”

 

On critical minerals, she urged the government to prioritise upstream exploration and extraction to ensure India can feed its own manufacturing ambitions. “We definitely need to do more on the extraction side,” she said. “If we do not get the basic raw materials to feed into these value chains, we will always be at the liberty of other geographies.”

 

Naidoo emphasised that India must prioritise incentivising its own domestic value chains, particularly in renewable infrastructure and batteries, to accelerate the energy transition. She cautioned that progress has been slow so far, noting, “Sometimes we’re not doing it. We’ve got to get faster,” and highlighted the lack of an established, seamless manufacturing value chain in these sectors.

 

The key for India, she added, is to develop self-sufficient domestic value chains rather than remain reliant on China.