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

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.