Pradhan at ADIPEC 2019: India will push natural gas share to 15% by 2030

New Delhi: Addressing the global energy sector at ADIPEC 2019 (Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition & Conference) in Abu Dhabi on Monday, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that the BJP government is working to increase the share of gas in India's energy mix to 15 percent by 2030.

"We are working to transform India into a gas-based economy. GOI has given significant thrust to the development of gas infrastructure. We have robust programmes under implementation to transform India into a gas-based economy and further increase the share of gas to 15 percent by 2030," Pradhan said.

Pradhan at ADIPEC 2019: India to invest $100 bn in oil & gas infra

While asserting that there's no better place to invest than India, Pradhan said, "Our focus is to attract global investments into the oil and gas sector, as India would invest $100 billion by 2024 in refining, pipelines and gas terminals. Our city gas network development in India is going to cover half of India's geography and would serve 70 percent of the population. An estimated investment of US$ 60 BN is underway in building gas pipeline & terminal infrastructure that are nearing or are in advanced stages of completion." The investment plan was announced by Pradhan back home at India at KPMG's ENRich 2019 on November 6.

'India offers political stability, policy predictability'

The minister, who delivered the keynote address at ADIPEC 2019, told potential investors, "Political stability, predictable policies and a huge diverse market make India an attractive investment destination. Increasing footprints of global energy companies like Total, ADNOC, Exxon Mobil, is a testimony of confidence shown by global investors in the Indian economy."

"India welcomes and looks forward to more investment in every segment of the energy value chain… India has a huge appetite for energy and will be a driver of global energy demand in the coming decades. Oil and gas would continue to play a critical role in meeting our energy requirement in the coming two decades even as we adopt renewable energy," he added.

While noting that India's oil and gas sector can function optimally only if it is in sync with the rest of the global developments, Pradhan asserted that not only will India be influenced by the changing energy transformation, but it will also be influencing significantly the global energy dynamics responsibly.

'India poised to be largest energy growth market by mid-2020s'

"India, with a per capita consumption of energy far below the world average, is redefining a new and sustainable energy mix. India is, therefore, expected to become the largest growth market for energy by mid-2020s," Pradhan told the audience.

"Global energy transition is driven by Asia fast becoming the centre of energy consumption.  Energy independence through renewables, availability of LNG, the emergence of US as a leading hydrocarbons exporter and meeting COP21 commitments are redefining the global oil and gas industry," the minister added.