Want to turn India into a gas-based economy: Dharmendra Pradhan at Petrotech 2019

Want to turn India into a gas-based economy: Dharmendra Pradhan at Petrotech 2019

PW Bureau

Addressing the welcome session of Petrotech 2019, Pradhan said that the government is working to deliver energy justice to the poorest of the poor by adopting the four pillars visualised by PM Modi

New Delhi: While calling for expanding the supply and availability of energy in a safe and environmentally responsible and sustainable manner on Sunday, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that the government plans to turn India into a gas-based economy. Addressing the welcome session of Petrotech 2019, the 13th edition of India's flagship hydrocarbon conference at India Expo Mart, Greater Noida, Pradhan said that energy is integral to support the fast-growing Indian economy and added, "We are working to deliver energy justice to the poorest of the poor by adopting the four pillars visualised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that is energy access, energy efficiency, energy sustainability and energy security as our guiding principles."

Welcoming the ministers from abroad and other delegates, Pradhan said that in the next three days, the recent changes that have taken place in the Indian hydrocarbon sector and how these are impacted by the prevailing global oil and gas dynamics will be presented. He said Petrotech will also serve as a platform to discuss solutions to the challenges that we face not only in India but also in our respective countries, in delivering affordable, efficient, clean and assured energy supplies to all our citizens. The theme of this conference was 'shaping the new energy world through innovation and collaboration.'

'Global energy trends favouring a big shift'

Talking about the dramatic shift in energy sources and consumption in the world, Pradhan pointed out that prominent global trends were shaping up in this regard — for instance, the big shift in energy consumption from Europe to Asia, the United States becoming the world's largest oil and gas producer after the shale revolution, solar energy emerging as a competitive and most sustainable energy alternative, share of natural gas in the global energy mix rising, convergence of cheaper renewable energy technologies, digital applications and the rising role of electricity forming the basis for achieving many of the world's sustainable development goals, and countries coming together to tackle climate change, including through global collaboration such as the International Solar Alliance (ISA).

"There is going to be a significant increase in the energy demand over the next 20 years and oil and gas are likely to remain prominent fuels in the global energy basket. However, given the increasing emission and CO2 levels globally, it is also important that we take care of challenges arising out of global warming.  This calls for expanding the supply and availability of energy in a safe and environmentally responsible and sustainable manner," he added.

'Plan to turn India into a gas-based economy'

Pradhan said, "We have over 16,000 km long gas pipeline network and additionally another 14,000 km gas pipelines are under different stages of construction. We have embarked upon the ambitious projects such as 3,200-km-long Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga Project and 1,600-km-long Indradhanush Gas Grid to connect eastern and northeastern parts of India with the National Gas Grid. The LNG infrastructure in the country is also being expanded rapidly. New LNG terminals are under construction on both the east and west coasts of the country."

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