Discuss the challenges in harmonising India's energy statistics across ministries. How does robust energy data support India's Net Zero commitments?

Q. Discuss the challenges in harmonising India's energy statistics across ministries. How does robust energy data support India's Net Zero commitments? (15 marks, 250-350 words)

Energy data in India is generated by multiple line ministries — Power, Coal, Petroleum & Natural Gas, and New & Renewable Energy — each with its own reporting formats and periodicity. The Expert Committee on Energy Statistics (chaired by Dr. Rangan Banerjee, Director IIT-Delhi), whose report MoSPI released in July 2026, was constituted precisely to build a harmonised, internationally comparable framework [1].

Challenges in harmonisation - Institutional fragmentation: separate ministry-wise datasets with no common classification, leaving MoSPI to reconcile figures rather than compile them [1]. - Classification mismatch: absence of uniform standards; the Committee has recommended aligning tabulation with ISIC Rev. 5, NIC-2025 and SIEC [1]. - Emerging categories uncaptured: biofuels contribution, captive and off-grid generation, and electricity consumed by electric vehicles are inadequately measured by legacy methodologies [1]. - Sub-sectoral opacity: consumption of domestic coal sold through e-auction, imported non-coking coal, and sector-wise electricity use remain weakly disaggregated [2]. - Coverage lags: with renewable potential at about 47 lakh MW and Total Primary Energy Supply near 9.33 lakh KToE in 2024-25, data systems must track a mix changing faster than survey cycles [2].

How robust data underpins Net Zero by 2070 - Credible baselines and inventories: harmonised, internationally comparable series are essential for reporting under NDCs and UNFCCC greenhouse gas inventories [1]. - Policy calibration: accurate biofuel accounting sharpens ethanol blending targets; reliable EV consumption data informs charging-infrastructure and grid planning [1]. - Analytical tools: energy balance tables, Sankey diagrams and sustainable energy indicators in Energy Statistics India 2026 allow tracking of energy intensity and decarbonisation progress [2]. - Investment signalling: data on credit flow to energy sectors helps direct green finance where transition gaps are widest [2].

Harmonised statistics are thus not a clerical exercise but the measurement backbone of the energy transition. Institutionalising the Committee's recommendations through a standing inter-ministerial data protocol under MoSPI would give India a transition dashboard that is verifiable, comparable and aligned with SDG-7.

(~310 words)

Sources: 1. Press Note on release of the Report of the Expert Committee on Energy Statistics, MoSPI (July 2026) — Committee constitution and chairmanship, inter-ministerial fragmentation, ISIC/NIC/SIEC alignment, biofuel–captive power–EV data gaps 2. Energy Statistics India 2026, 33rd Edition, NSO/MoSPI — TPES and renewable potential figures, coal and sub-sectoral electricity data gaps, energy balance tables and Sankey diagrams, credit flow to energy sectors