Home
Council on Energy, Environment and Water Integrated | International | Independent

India to play a global role in the energy transition: Dharmendra Pradhan at Energy Horizons

New Delhi, 19th July 2019: India will have to play a global role in the energy transition and deal with the volatility in the energy market, according to H.E. Mr Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Minister of Steel. Minister Pradhan delivered the Ministerial address on the second day of CEEW’s flagship conference ‘Energy Horizons’ in New Delhi. The Minister also launched the CEEW Centre for Energy Finance along with Dr Fatih Birol, Executive Director, International Energy Agency.

In his address, the minister emphasised on five trends that are crucial for India’s energy transition.

Key highlights from his speech:

  • In India, we have current domestic refining capacity of 250 MMTPA. Recent studies have pointed out that even with an aggressive EV roll out plan, India would need 450 MMTPA of refining capacity. Unless we pay attention to this demand growth, in another few years, we will have to start importing refined products along with crude.
  • As India aspires to become a 5 trillion-dollar economy by 2024, capital outlay plan in the coming years, across a number of areas, such as refinery upgradation, petrochemicals, pipeline, city gas network, LNG terminals and marketing network has to increase. This has a huge potential for direct and indirect economic impact as well as employment generation potential.
  • While India’s energy demand increased to 754 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe) in 2017, the per capita consumption of energy is still much lower than the world average.

  • India’s share of total global primary energy demand is set to roughly double to about 11 percent by 2040, driven by strong economic development.
  • Renewable energy as a source of energy is getting cheaper and it is the fastest source of energy both globally and in India.
  • Energy itself is in transition with increased shift towards electricity in primary energy consumption. Renewable energy as a source of energy is getting cheaper and it is the fastest source of energy both globally and in India.
  • The Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry continues to endeavour to ‘Reform, Perform and Transform’ the sector. The Government has taken several reforms with far-reaching impacts in the sectors of Exploration and Production, Refinery, Marketing, Natural Gas and International Cooperation.
  • With global energy demand centres shifting towards Asia, India is expected to be the bright spot in growth in the coming decades.
  • We have strengthened our dialogue with international organizations such as OPEC, International Energy Agency, International Economic Forum and others so as to create a balance in the global energy market. The aim is to have a strong voice of consumers in influencing such markets.

Energy Horizons was envisioned as a global platform for thought and action leadership on the energy transition in emerging economies, with a focus on India. The conference comprised of several high-level discussions, masterclasses and solution factory sessions to cover a range of issues, including power systems of the future, financing and business model innovations, and next-generation technologies. Over 500 delegates and more than 50 key speakers participated in the conference.

https://twitter.com/dpradhanbjp/status/1152133475450802177