New Delhi: India on Thursday welcomed the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation 2026–2030 and assured the bloc of cooperation under the ASEAN India Plan of Action 2026–2030, including the ASEAN Power Grid, regional power transmission, multilateral power trade, clean energy, and energy security, according to an official statement.
Addressing the 20th East Asia Summit Energy Ministers’ Meeting in Manila, India’s Minister of State for Power, Shripad Yesso Naik said that India and Singapore are exploring options for a proposed 2,000 MW cross-border power interconnection. One option under consideration is a land-based transmission corridor of approximately 3,000 km connecting Imphal in India to Singapore through Myanmar, Thailand, and Malaysia. The proposed interconnection has the potential to facilitate reliable cross-border electricity trade, support clean energy integration and strengthen regional energy security, the statement said.
Naik expressed India’s readiness to share its experience in large-scale renewable energy deployment, grid integration, transmission planning, energy storage, green hydrogen and clean energy technologies with EAS participating countries. He also called for greater institutional linkages between the ASEAN Centre for Energy and Indian institutions including NTPC, POWERGRID, CEA, NIWE, NISE, and NPTI.
Naik further outlined opportunities for cooperation on strategic petroleum reserves, emergency preparedness, electricity system resilience, LNG and gas supply security, renewable energy forecasting, battery energy storage, green hydrogen and other emerging energy technologies. He also expressed India’s interest in knowledge exchange and cooperation with ASEAN partners on CCUS and Carbon Credit Trading Scheme, taking into account the priorities and circumstances of participating countries.
He reaffirmed India’s support for ASEAN’s efforts to operationalise the enhanced memorandum of understanding on the ASEAN Power Grid and deepen multilateral power trade.
Naik drew attention to India’s significant progress in the power sector, with installed electricity generation capacity reaching 558.8 GW as on September 30, including 308 GW of non-fossil capacity, accounting for 55 per cent of total installed capacity. He also highlighted the progress under PM Surya Ghar, with approximately 5.01 million rooftop solar installations benefiting 5.95 million households as on September 29, 2026.
He noted that India had achieved 50 per cent of cumulative installed electricity generation capacity from non-fossil sources in June 2025, five years ahead of its 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) target under the Paris Agreement, the statement added.
(IANS)
