India, June 16 -- Since Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz in February, India has been confronting the full cost of its dependence on imported energy and the numbers are unsparing. India imports about 85-90% of its crude oil - roughly five million barrels a day. Even before the present crisis - which may come to an end with the announced peace deal - India's fossil fuel import bill stood close to $180 billion.

Given this stark reality, it is time to treat India's energy transition as not merely a climate obligation, but as a core energy security strategy. The objective must be to build a clean energy system that is affordable, reliable, diversified and increasingly domestic.

India has already crossed 283 GW of installed non-fossil fuel c...