Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani on Tuesday said the conglomerate will invest over USD 75 billion in the energy-transition space over the next five years, asserting that India must define its own development path, resist external pressures and build sovereign capabilities in resources, energy and technology.

Speaking at the 100th foundation day of IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, Adani said the group is building the world’s largest renewable energy park at Khavda in Gujarat, spread over 520 sq km.

"At full capacity by 2030, this park will generate 30 gw of green energy. At average household consumption, this is equivalent to powering over 60 million homes a year," he said.

"With the first 10 GW already commissioned, we are on track to deliver the world’s lowest-cost green electron, setting a global benchmark in energy transition," he added.

Adani said India is the world’s third-largest electricity consumer but its per-capita consumption is "less than 1,400 kWh a year, less than half the global average, one-tenth of America, and one-fifth of Europe."

He criticised global sustainability assessments that penalise India for lacking a coal-exit timeline, saying a narrative emerged at COP-30 in 2025, where a report downgraded India’s sustainability ranking.

"Yes, we rank third in total CO₂ emitted. But per capita, our people emit under 2 tonnes — compared to 14 tonnes in the US, 9 tonnes in China and 6 tonnes in Europe," he said.

"In 200 years of industrial activity, our country has contributed just 4 per cent of cumulative global emissions, against 13 per cent from Europe, 19 per cent from the US and 20 per cent from China," he added.

Adani said India must guard against “narrative colonisation” by countries that historically emitted the most carbon but now seek to dictate how developing economies should grow.

"We live in an era of narrative colonisation, where the very nations that plundered resources, enslaved continents, and burned fossil fuels for two centuries, now stand on moral platforms in foreign capitals," he said.

"If we do not control our own narrative, our aspirations will be delegitimised and our right to improve our standard of living portrayed as a global offence."

Calling the present moment India’s “second freedom struggle”—one for economic and resource independence—Adani said sovereignty in the 21st century will be defined by control over natural resources and energy systems.

"India's sovereignty in the 21st century will depend on a nation's command over its natural resources and its energy systems," he said.

He added: "Sovereignty belongs to those who command their earth. And those who command their earth, command their energy."

Adani argued that the age of collaborative global trade is collapsing as nations turn inward, citing battles over rare earths, semiconductors and trade treaties.

"We are all seeing nations, once bound by strong alliances, retreating into the shadows of self-preservation," he said, adding that even global institutions like NATO, the WTO and the UN are reconsidering established frameworks.

Referring to the Adani Group’s Carmichael coal mine in Australia, he said the project faced "one of the most contested environmental and political battles of the century."

"We were vilified in international media, dragged into courtrooms, and pressured to give up the project. We didn’t back out… because it was about securing clean energy for the nation. You may be resisted, you may be ridiculed… they may write headlines, but we will write history," he said.

Positioning mining and earth sciences at the heart of the future clean-energy economy, Adani said the next decades will be defined by rare earths, lithium, copper, silicon and uranium.

"People may call mining the old economy," he said. "But without it, there is no new economy."

He urged students to "dream fearlessly, act relentlessly" and become "custodians of the core" who build India’s sovereign capabilities.

Adani also announced 50 annual paid internships for third-year IIT (ISM) Dhanbad students and the establishment of an Adani 3S Mining Excellence Centre at the institute.