Energy future for India is bright and secure

India is full of energy and its energy future is bright and secure, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the 4^th India Energy Forum CERAWeek. He pointed out that India was projected to emerge as a leading energy consumer. And this is despite various challenges like fall in energy demand, prevailing price instability, impacted investment decisions, and projected contraction in global energy demand over the next few years.

PM Modi, addressing the forum through video conference, said India believes that access to energy must be affordable and reliable, that is when socio-economic transformations can take place. It empowers people and furthers ‘Ease of Living’. “India’s Enery Plan aims to ensure justice while fully following India’s global commitments for sustainable growth. This means more energy is needed to improve the lives of Indians with a smaller carbon foot-print,” he said. Envisioning the sector to be growth centric, industry friendly and environment conscious, Modi said India is among the most active nations in furthering renewable sources.

Moreover, India is the most attractive emerging market. The government has distributed over 36 crore LED bulbs, reducing the cost of LED bulbs by 10 fold, and installed over 1.1 crore smart LED street lights in the last six years. The prime minister highlighted that these interventions have enabled an estimated energy savings of 60 billion units per year, estimated greenhouse gas emission of over 4.5 crore tonnes of carbon dioxide annually and monetary savings of about Rs 24,000 crore annually. He said India is well on track to meet the global commitment. The target to increase the installed renewable energy capacity to 175 GW by 2022 has been further extended to 450 GW by 2030. Modi highlighted the Exploration and Licensing Policy, which shifted the focus from revenue to production maximization, focus on greater transparency and stream-lined procedures, and plan to grow refining capacities from about 250 to 400 million metric tonnes per annum by 2025. Increasing domestic gas production has been a key government priority and would be achieved through One Nation One Gas Grid, to shift the country towards a gas-based economy.