Krushna Chandra Panigrahy, Director General, Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE)
India’s next phase of energy transition will require faster electrification and wider adoption of clean technologies, digital solutions and energy-efficiency measures, with MSMEs needing to significantly accelerate adoption, Krushna Chandra Panigrahy, Director General, Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), said.
Speaking at the 25th edition of the CII Energy Efficiency Summit 2026 here on Thursday, Panigrahy said energy efficiency and electrification would be central to meeting India’s rising energy demand while ensuring that energy remained affordable and reliable.
While large industries had made significant progress in energy efficiency, MSMEs continued to face barriers relating to technical capabilities, financing and operating costs, he said. The ADEETIE scheme could help address some of these constraints, he added.
“Energy efficiency should not be seen as a compliance requirement, but as a pathway to global competitiveness,” Panigrahy said. India needed to use energy efficiently, electrify wherever technically viable and progressively power electricity with cleaner sources, he added.
Opportunity
Tejpreet Singh Chopra, Chairman, CII Energy Efficiency Summit 2026 and Founder & CEO, BLP-Industry.AI, said AI and digital tools could accelerate energy-efficiency adoption by shortening the gap between identifying inefficiencies and taking corrective action.
AI could make energy-efficiency insights more accessible and actionable for MSMEs, helping them identify inefficiencies, optimise processes and take data-driven decisions despite having limited technical teams, Chopra said.
Investment
P V Kiran Ananth, Executive Director- Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy & Green Entrepreneurship, CII Godrej GBC, said energy efficiency remained one of the most cost-effective levers for industrial decarbonisation.
The 27th National Award for Excellence in Energy Management saw 720 industry respondents invest around ₹5,700 crore over the last three years, resulting in savings of more than ₹7,100 crore, he said.
Participating companies had committed a further ₹3,590 crore in investments over the next year towards electrification, process improvement, waste-heat recovery, digitalisation, IoT and AI, Ananth said.
The summit also saw the launch of the India Heat Pump Atlas – The National Installation Insights Dashboard, developed under the CII Heat Pump Alliance.
Published on September 17, 2026