Energy, N-power, aviation & data centres India’s focus in US trade deal, says Piyush Goyal

The Centre on Wednesday said energy security was its supreme priority and India would focus on trade potential in the energy, aviation, data centres and nuclear power sectors in the bilateral agreement with the US.

Apprising Parliament of the deal announced by US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this week, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal reiterated that India had successfully safeguarded the interests of its sensitive sectors — agriculture, dairy, fertilisers and food.

The minister said ensuring energy security for Indians was the supreme priority of the government. “Diversifying our energy sourcing in keeping with objective market conditions and evolving international dynamics is at the core of our strategy,” Goyal said in an oblique reference to Trump’s claims that India had agreed to reduce crude imports from Russia as part of the deal.

The minister noted that as India proceeds on the path to Viksit Bharat, it will need to grow its capacities enormously in energy, aviation, data centres and nuclear power.

“The US is a world leader in these areas, and therefore it is natural for us to focus on the trade potential in these sectors that will lead to an expansion not only in our sourcing, but also in our exports,” he said, adding that the reduced tariff of 18 percent announced by US President Donald Trump after multiple rounds of negotiations over a year was lower than those for several competing countries. This would enhance India’s export competitiveness in the US market, the minister told the Lok Sabha.

On Congress’ questions about the details of the deal, Goyal said, “Both sides will work together to fulfill important processes related to the trade agreement and finalise paperwork so that we can take benefit of its full capability at the earliest. The details of the agreement will be announced soon after the conclusion of these processes.”

The agreement, he said, would provide new opportunities to small and medium businessmen, MSMEs, industrialists, skilled workers and industries. “This will also simplify the reach to advanced technologies,” he said.

Data centres to attract $150 billion in 5 years

• The Tribune has learnt that the govt is estimating US investments worth $150 billion in data centres alone over the next five years.
• Nuclear power would be key to this end. Sources say, in data centres alone, there is a potential of at least 10 GW in the next five years.
• Officials note with the Budget 2026-27 offering tax concessions on global data centres, sky is the limit. They highlight that India is the only country with a national grid, which is aiming for 500 GW renewable energy by 2030, and the only one with redundancy of three levels with a capacity to offer 24-hour renewable energy.
• After Budget concessions and the trade deal with the US that gives access to data centre equipment, Nvidia chips, there is a mind boggling potential for investments and regular annual forex earnings.
• In five years, data centres alone will mean a benefit of 150 billion dollar in investments, suggest estimations.