US Tariff Slows Energy Transition: Vedanta CEO

New Delhi, Sep 16 (PTI) Vedanta Resources Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Deshnee Naidoo on Tuesday cautioned that the tariff announced by US President Donald Trump will slow down both the pace and scale of energy transition in the world.

The statement comes at a time when India has set an ambitious renewable energy target of 500 GW by 2030.

Speaking at FT Live Energy Transition Summit India, here she said,"US tariffs will be slowing down the pace and scale of energy transition in the world."

She stated that the tariffs announced by the US on Indian exports would not hit the economy broadly as domestic consumption drives most of its growth. However, it may fragment global decarbonisation efforts.

Naidoo also stressed that India should not give up on coal right now as there was a need for a reliable affordable mix for growth of the economy.

The Indian government, she said, is releasing more mineral blocks that is good but definitely there is a need to do more on the extraction side and there should be incentives for exploration.

"Do more and promote upstream exploration and extraction," she said.

Trump has slapped a punitive 25 per cent levy on India from August 27, doubling overall tariffs to 50 per cent, as part of Washington's efforts to step up pressure on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.