New Delhi [India], October 10 : India is likely to account for 25 per cent of global energy demand growth over the next two decades, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri said Tuesday, and asserted the demand for energy will continue to provide fuel for future economic growth.
The minister, speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the 26th Energy Technology Meet, said the fuel demand in India is bound to "grow exponentially" in the coming years.
At present, the country is the world's 3rd largest consumer of oil, 3rd largest LPG consumer, 4th largest LNG importer, 4th largest refiner, 4th largest automobile market.
Talking about the progress made by India in the green and clean energy sector, Minister Puri said that the 10 per cent target on biofuel blending by November 2022 was attained five months in advance, and reiterated that the 20 per cent biofuel blending target of 2030 has been advanced to 2025.
He added that the process of setting up ethanol and biogas plants is underway "rigorously" to meet the rising green energy demand.
With the launch of Biofuels Alliance, Puri said that the global biofuel market will go up from USD 92 billion at present to USD 200 billion very shortly.
"The real story on biofuels has just started. The 10 per cent ethanol blending has led to considerable savings on the import bill and it will increase with 20 per cent blending," he stated.
On Monday, the minister had said India was watching carefully the ongoing conflict between Israel-Hamas and added it would handle its energy needs with "maturity".
"India will handle it with maturity. As far as the energy sector is concerned, the place where the action is taking place is in many respects the centre of global energy. We will watch very carefully," Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri told reporters in New Delhi.
"We will navigate our way through this. These kinds of uncertainties only encourage people to sustainable and cleaner fuel," Puri added.
Global crude oil prices moved in the northward direction, following the Israel-Hamas war with large fatalities on both sides. Brent crude, often considered the global benchmark, soared as high as about 5 per cent before some correction on Monday. At present, it is trading largely steady at USD 87.89 per barrel.
For India particularly, which is a large importer of crude oil from various sources, this latest price pressure on energy prices could likely be a dampener. Since the war between Russia and Ukraine broke out in February 2022, there has been a consistent rise in energy prices.
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