The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on Monday, 6 July released the report of its Expert Committee on Energy Statistics, outlining critical methodological reforms to address long-standing data gaps in India's energy statistics framework — covering biofuels, captive power, and electricity consumption by electric vehicles (EVs).

What the Committee Was Set Up to Do

MoSPI constituted the Expert Committee under the chairmanship of Dr Rangan Banerjee, Director of IIT Delhi, with senior representatives drawn from line Energy Ministries and domain experts from institutions including The Energy Research Institute (TERI) and the Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE). The committee's mandate was to harmonise India's energy statistics database in coordination with relevant Energy Ministries — a process that has taken on fresh urgency as the country accelerates its renewable energy and Net Zero commitments.

Key Recommendations

The committee has called for adoption of international standards in data collection and dissemination, aligning tabulation categories with the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) Rev. 5, National Industrial Classification (NIC)-2025, and the Standards International Energy-product Classification (SIEC). It also urged all line Energy Ministries to adopt uniform conversion factors to ensure inter-ministerial consistency.

On coal, the committee proposed a refined methodology for tracking sectoral end-use consumption of imported coal — which accounts for around 20 per cent of India's total coal consumption — as well as domestic coal routed via auction, both of which have historically been clubbed under a broad miscellaneous category. The approach draws on the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) database to capture industry-wise consumption. A similar ASI-based methodology was recommended for mapping electricity end-use consumption across industries.

The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) has been asked to develop and maintain a comprehensive database under the Perform, Achieve, and Trade (PAT) scheme.

Biofuel Data: Closing a Major Gap

One of the most consequential findings concerns biofuel. In the absence of consolidated national-level data, the United Nations Statistical Division (UNSD) currently estimates India's biofuel consumption at roughly 31–34 per cent of total annual energy consumption — based on its own modelling rather than verified Indian data. The committee has recommended a comprehensive methodology to fill this gap and incorporate biofuel accurately into India's energy balance table.

Captive Power and EV Electricity Consumption

Electricity consumed through captive and off-grid modes and by EVs represent two of the most significant untracked segments in India's energy accounting. The committee has proposed an initial methodological framework for both, though it acknowledged that further refinement by researchers and data users will be needed before these estimates can be reliably incorporated into the national energy balance database.

What Happens Next

MoSPI has emphasised that implementing these recommendations will require sustained collaboration across all concerned ministries and stakeholders. The reforms are intended to improve data quality, analytical usefulness, and international comparability — and to support evidence-based policymaking as India navigates its ongoing energy transition. With the country's Net Zero targets drawing closer scrutiny from global investors and multilateral agencies, the quality of underlying energy data has direct implications for policy credibility.