From Bengaluru, BRICS and the SCO offer India clean tech, not oil

Summary

In Policy Advisory 2026-21 of 7 October 2026 from the Bengaluru-based Takshashila Institution, Bhumika Sevkani writes that energy security dominated the agendas of both the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and BRICS this year. Her thesis is plain: neither grouping can guarantee India oil and gas supply. India should use these platforms for clean technology cooperation, investment and supply chain diversification.

Sevkani draws the limits of both groupings with numbers. On 2025 data, energy accounts for about 62% of Russia's exports, 51% of Kazakhstan's and about 90% of Turkmenistan's, so supply exists in the region. But India has no land access to Central Asia through Pakistan, and the International North–South Transport Corridor has been under construction for more than 20 years. China, meanwhile, has invested more than $52.5 billion in over 160 power and renewables projects across SCO countries.

On finance, the author highlights the New Development Bank. Its clean energy lending rose from $1.2 billion in 2017 to $3.3 billion in 2024, and as of June 2026, 30% of project costs are financed in local currency. The bank plans to issue 25,000 crore rupees of rupee-denominated bonds over five years. Sevkani recommends that India build a pipeline of bankable projects so that this capital does not sit idle.

Among the paper's eight recommendations: position India as the main alternative to China in clean technology, and develop common battery standards with the BRICS smart grid and storage centre. Another is to push completion of the Iran–Azerbaijan rail link. Against a 2026 US law threatening tariffs of up to 100% on buyers of Russian oil, the author also suggests seeking a narrow sanctions waiver for energy purchases from the region. She acknowledges that rupee–rouble trade has stalled and that surplus rupees are piling up in special accounts.