Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri who is on visit to the United States on Monday (local time) said that the first 100 days of the new government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi had continued the work that had been done over the last 10 years and the goal was Viksit Bharat 2047.
“The kind of work that has been done in the last 10 years, such work has never happened after 1947…From 2004-2014, the urban spending figure was Rs 1,57,000 crore, now it has increased more than 11 times…Under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, we built more than 4 crore houses…in every sector, work is increasing…under Ujjwala Yojana, even in rural areas, gas cylinders are available…we are moving fast towards becoming a developed nation by 2047,” Puri said.
The Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas spoke specifically of the US-India Strategic Energy Cooperation Partnership that he is in the US to discuss with Secretary for Energy, Jennifer Granholm.
“When we started this strategic energy cooperation partnership, one wondered whether energy was a plank on which we could co-operate. But, you know our cooperation and traditional energy had went up a couple of years ago to USD 20 billion of fossil traditional energy. But, today more than that we are cooperating in the context of the global biofuels alliance, on biofuels. We are cooperating for the development of green hydrogen,” Puri said.
“At a point like this when there is clearly an energy transition taking place, there’s no doubt about that. We have to survive the present. Because the world will be dependent on fossil fuels for quite some time but we must make that transition to cleaner, sustainable fuel. And India has a very good story to tell,” he said.
The Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas pointed out that when Prime Minister Modi assumed responsibility in May 2014, India was blending only 1.5 per cent of its total fuel with biofuels.
“The Prime Minister set a target for 10 per cent blending by November 2022. We were able to do that five months in advance. Then we had a target of 20 per cent blending for 2030. We’re going to do it by 2025 October, that is the ethanol blending here,” Puri said
“We were very happy that recently there was a conference on green hydrogen in Delhi and the US was a partner country. Now, you might wonder is all this current or is some of this in the future? But if you look at the speed with which they have worked on all these subgroups, it is now bringing that futuristic work right into the present. Different parts of the government of India, the oil companies, the railways, they’re setting net zero standards. And I think I can share with you, not just because I’m sitting in DC., but we draw great strength from our cooperation with the United States on this cooperation on sustainable energy and looking at the technologies which will go into it, how Indian companies can contribute, where they can sign win-win MOUs. And I’m going to be going to Houston after this for Gaztech and number of MOUs that are going to be signed there between our economic entities,” the Minister said.
“In order to enhance our exploration and production, E&P sector, the Honorable Prime Minister decided that out of our 3.5 million square kilometers of sedimentary basin, one million, which was a no-go area, has been made completely free. We are inviting collaboration with other global entities to come and prospect there. Our companies are entering into partnership. And apart from cleaning up these and clearing these no-go areas,” Puri said.
The Minister also highlighted the high growth in the country and said that in terms of India’s energy needs, the country is making a transition to green energy.
“The Indian economy in the last 10 years has come from the 11th or 10th position to being the fifth largest economy. And I’m not a person who goes only by statistics, but if you look at what the IMF is saying, the International Monetary Fund is saying that by 2027, India should be the third largest economy. There are others who’d say that may not be 2027 slightly later, but the trajectory is very clear. If you’re going at 7 per cent plus on a USD 4 trillion base, you’re going to grow,” he said.
“For gas, we are 50 per cent dependent on imports, for crude oil it’s much higher. But please also bear in mind that we have a daily consumption of 5.4 million barrels of crude a day. India, that 7 million people go to the petrol pump every day or through the retail points to fill up, two wheelers, three wheelers. So the energy demand is going up. Now what will happen in this? Delhi Metro, which is an urban transport provider, on August 20 had a daily ridership of 7.7 million. I am just giving you some statistics to show how much of energy we need. And we are being able to make that transition to green energy in spite of some dependence which will continue for a while. The way I look at it, India today for energy issues is a live happening placem that explains whatever outreach we do in gas tech or elsewhere, the road shows we have, our individual companies have, it is because they see a win-win situation in terms of also coming to India for economic reasons. And I think that combination put together is what is producing the results that we are seeking in India and we are being able to demonstrate,” the Minister said.
After his visit to Washington DC, the Minister travels to Houston where a number of MoUs are expected to be signed to enhance India’s Exploration and Production sector.