Shell India VP on India's energy transition: Storage, hydrogen, and grid upgrades are key to net-zero

India's push to net-zero by 2070 requires more than solar and wind. Ajay Mehta, VP of Research & Innovation at Shell India, says storage, hydrogen, biofuels, and grid modernization are critical. Climate-tech funding in India hit $2.6 billion in 2025, up from $315 million in 2020, but scaling from lab to commercial use remains the biggest hurdle. Shell's E4 program has backed over 40 startups, with several moving to pilots and deployment. Mehta emphasizes that electrolysers tested at 1 MW need to work at gigawatt scale. India's energy demand from manufacturing and computing is rising, so the focus must shift from generation to delivery and storage. The opportunity spans the whole value chain, not just renewable power.