HVDC a $30 bn market but India barely in the game

Pratik Agarwal is the managing director of Sterlite Power, a leading power transmission infrastructure company and producer of cables, the weakest link in India’s journey to Net Zero. He is also the chairman of Serentica Renewables, a developer of renewable projects, focusing on providing power to businesses. Of the Rs 3,000 crores of the privately held Sterlite’s revenues, 40 percent comes from exports, with more than half from the Europe and the US. Sterlite Power wants to double revenues to Rs 10,000 crores in the next three years focusing on both Indian and export markets, Agarwal told Business Standard in Mumbai in a sit down interview, naming India, Korea and Taiwan, are the three places which are going to take a lead in that entire chain. The interview is edited for space and clarity. 

What would be the impact of the Trump administration energy policies on your businesses? 

First, let's understand the demand side of the US. Until 2022, the US was a de-growth electricity market. Everything changed last year, when the US became a growing market where even a 1% growth is thousands of megawatts. The growth came largely because of the AI boom and data centres. With the new US administration, there will be a heightened anti-China sentiment, and those products which have the slightest concerns around cyber security will see a virtual ban. India will be a very strong beneficiary of that entire demand, if it can ramp up its production capacity quickly. We see cables a little bit in that area.

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