Bengaluru: Branding India as the best destination for investments right now, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told investors on Monday that India's share in global oil demand is expected to increase by 6 percent and gas demand is likely to go up by a whopping 500 percent. Inaugurating the India Energy Week 2023, Modi said, "Today, India's share in the global oil demand is around 5 percent. This is expected to go up to 11 percent. India's gas demand is expected to rise by around 500 percent. Our expanding energy sector is creating new opportunities for collaboration and investment."
While asserting that India is one of the strongest voices on energy transition in the world, Modi told investors, "For a country which is moving forward with the intention of becoming developed, the energy sector presents unparalleled opportunities for growth… The IEA has said that India's energy demand will be the largest in the world in this decade. And this is where India brings new opportunities for investors and energy sector stakeholders."
In the energy sector, India's strategy has four main verticals — increasing domestic exploration and production, diversification of supplies, expansion of alternative energy sources like biofuels, ethanol, CBG and solar, and decarbonisation through electric vehicles and hydrogen. The PM told investors that India is proceeding fast on all these four pathways.
"India has the world's fourth-largest refining capacity. The current refining capacity of 150 MMTPA is set to go up to 450 MMTPA. We are constantly upgrading and modernising our refining capacity indigenously," said the PM while delineating the growth areas in India's energy sector.
"India is also working on increasing its petrochemical production capacity. Leveraging India's rich technology potential and growing start-up ecosystem, you can expand your energy landscape," the PM told investors.
Stating that the government is working on a mission mode to increase the share of natural gas in the energy mix from 6 percent to 15 percent by 2030, Modi said, "Our plan is to increase the number of LNG terminals and regasification capacity. Our capacity in 2014 was 21 MMTPA, which has doubled by 2022. We are also working towards increasing the length of our gas pipelines. There is immense scope for investment in India's natural gas infrastructure."
Talking about investment opportunities in India's exploration and production sector, Modi told investors that the government is focussed on increasing domestic exploration and production of fossil fuels. "Keeping in mind investors' sentiments, India has reduced the areas covered under no-go zone, which has opened up 10,000 lakh sq km area for exploration. I request all investors to make use of these opportunities and increase their presence in the exploration of fossil fuels," he said.
Commenting on the emphasis India is putting on deploying biofuels at commercial scale, Modi said that India is planning to set up 12 commercial 2G bioethanol plants in the time to come and is also working in the direction of expanding the usage of sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel. "In this year's Budget, we have announced our plan to put in place 500 waste-to-wealth plants under Gobardhan Yojana. This includes 200 CBG plants and 300 community or cluster-based plants. This also holds opportunities for investments," said the PM.
The PM said that the National Green Hydrogen Mission will guide the 21st-century India and the target of producing 5 MMTPA of green hydrogen will create opportunities for investments of upto Rs 1 lakh crore. "In the next five years, India will increase the share of green hydrogen by 25 percent in its overall hydrogen production by replacing grey hydrogen," the PM told investors.
"We have strengthened the possibility for investments further in our latest Budget. The Budget has also made a provision for Rs 35,000 crore for funding priority capital investments for energy transition and net zero. We have also made provision of Rs 10 lakh crore for capital investments. This will provide support for all kinds of infrastructure, ranging from green hydrogen to solar to roads," said the PM.
On the occassion, the Prime Minister also launched uniforms under the 'Unbottled' initiative of Indian Oil. These uniforms are made of recycled PET bottles. He also dedicated the twin-cooktop model of the IndianOil's Indoor Solar Cooking System and flagged off its commercial roll-out.
Later in the day, the Prime Minister also launched E20 fuel at 84 retail outlets of Oil Marketing Companies in 11 states/UTs along the lines of the ethanol blending roadmap. He also flagged off the Green Mobility Rally where vehicles running on green energy sources will participate and help create public awareness for green fuels.
Welcoming investors at the India Energy Week 2023, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri said, "IEW 2023 comes at a watershed in the global energy landscape and it will devise solutions to solve the global energy quadrilemma of energy access, affordability and availability with security at its pivot and devise solutions for the future global energy transition."
"More than 60 million visit the petrol pumps in India on a daily basis. A nation of 1.4 billion-plus has to be insulated against the global price rise so that energy is accessible at affordable cost. This is the primary focus of India's energy needs," said Puri.
"Against this backdrop, India has carved out an agenda which is inclusive, market-based and climate-sensitive. We continue to underscore the importance of oil and gas yet our commitment to climate change mitigation goals remains unabated and undiluted. We have remained focused on energy efficiency, laying impetus on the fuels of the future, including biofuels and hydrogen, and increasing the use of renewable energies, etc. At the same time, we are taking transformative steps to increase the exploration and production of traditional hydrocarbons," said the minister.
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