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India’s
electricity demand expected to surge as AI data centres, manufacturing and
urbanisation expand rapidly.
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Experts
highlight carbon capture, digital monitoring and skilled engineers as critical
to achieving India’s 2070 net-zero target.
Pune:
India’s electricity demand is expected to nearly double over the next two
decades as manufacturing expands and AI-powered digital infrastructure grows,
but industry experts say the real challenge will be controlling carbon
emissions rather than producing energy. This was the central message at the
29th Annual Industry-Institute Interaction Program (AIIIP-26) hosted by MIT
World Peace University (MIT-WPU), Pune.
The
flagship academic-industry forum organised by the SPE MIT-WPU Student Chapter
brought together senior leaders from BP, ExxonMobil, Baker Hughes, Chevron
and Quorum Software for a panel titled “Reskill. Rewire. Reignite: The
Engineering Workforce for Low-Carbon Operations.”
India
is currently the world’s third-largest energy consumer and has committed
to achieving net-zero emissions by 2070 while reducing emissions
intensity by 45% from 2005 levels. At the same time, sectors such as
steel, cement, transport, and data infrastructure continue to expand rapidly —
making decarbonisation an engineering and technology problem rather than only a
policy issue.
Opening
the discussion, Ms. Moly Kromah, Head – BP Technical Solutions India at BP,
emphasized the complexity of the transition. “The world needs all forms of
energy,” she said, noting that the pace toward lower-carbon systems will vary
across regions. She stressed that reducing emissions begins with improving
efficiency: “The fundamentals have not changed. It is about taking what you
know today and using it differently to reduce impact and improve performance.”
She highlighted the need to anticipate failures using digital tools and operate
facilities more efficiently rather than simply adding redundancy that increases
emissions.
Ian
McPhee of ExxonMobil
pointed to carbon capture and storage (CCS) as a practical extension of
traditional engineering capability. Addressing carbon capture and storage, he
explained that the skills required for low-carbon solutions are rooted in
traditional engineering expertise. “It takes the same reservoir engineering and
geoscience skills to sequester carbon as it does to produce oil and gas. That
is why our training hasn’t drastically changed, because the fundamentals still
matter.”
From
the services and technology perspective, Pradeep Shukla of Baker Hughes
noted growing interest in carbon capture projects, including geomechanical
studies and well designs tailored for CO₂ storage. “The skills remain the same.
What changes is how we apply them, whether it is carbon capture, efficiency
improvement or emissions reduction,” he said. He also emphasized how structured
operational data and machine learning are enabling predictive maintenance,
helping prevent unnecessary shutdowns and reduce energy losses.
Mr.
Chetan Chavan of Chevron
highlighted the importance of carbon literacy across the value chain. He noted
that engineers must understand “where the carbon is coming from, the monitoring
technologies, regulatory frameworks and mitigation pathways.” Strong
engineering foundations, he said, must now be complemented with digital fluency
and systems thinking.
Addressing
the role of artificial intelligence in decarbonization, Ms. Titiksha
Mukherjee of Quorum Software offered a measured perspective. “What got us
here is not going to get us there,” she said, encouraging students to rethink
traditional processes. At the same time, she cautioned against overreliance on
automation: “AI can make things faster, but it is not autopilot. Engineers will
have to manage AI agents and ensure what is being generated makes sense in the
real context.” She compared AI oversight to a surgeon supervising a robotic
system, technology assists, but responsibility remains human.
Panelists
also discussed the emerging impact of digital infrastructure. Rapid growth of
cloud computing and AI applications is driving the construction of large-scale
data centres, which require continuous power supply and cooling systems, making
them among the fastest-growing electricity consumers globally. This trend is
expected to significantly influence future energy planning.
Speakers
agreed that the energy transition will be gradual, combining hydrocarbons,
renewables, hydrogen, geothermal energy and carbon-capture technologies rather
than relying on a single source. Engineers, they said, will be central to
balancing energy security with emissions reduction.
The
session saw extensive student participation, with discussions focusing on
future careers and skill requirements. Experts advised students to combine core
engineering fundamentals with data science, automation and environmental
management.