Energy: India expects $67 bn investment in 5 to 6 years, says PM Modi
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said India is expecting huge investments to the tune of nearly USD 67 billion in the next five to six years in the energy sector, and invited investors to participate in the country’s growth story.
Inaugurating the second edition of India Energy Week in Goa, he said the country’s economy at the rate of 7.5 percent growth in GDP is the fastest-growing among the major ones, and it will soon become the world’s third-largest. This is more than what experts believed.
PM Modi invited global players to participate in the growth of India’s energy sector, saying the country is would increase its refining capacity from 254 million metric tons per annum (MMTPA) to 450 MMTPA by 2030.
Asserting that India is investing unprecedented amounts of money in this sector, he said the country’s primary energy demand will be doubled by 2045.
India, he said, is the third-largest consumer of crude oil and LPG and the fourth-largest importer of LNG.
Petrol and diesel prices were reduced in India in the last two years, he said, recounting the country’s energy management strategy in the face of global problems.
Government reforms are helping boost domestic natural gas production and India is targeting to raise the share of gas in its energy mix to 15 percent by 2030, he added.
About the blending of ethanol in petrol, PM Modi noted that it has increased from 1.5 percent 10 years ago to 12 percent now, and will reach 20 percent by 2025.
India accounts for just four percent of global emissions and is targeting net zero by 2070, the PM said, adding that surplus electricity generated from the just-announced scheme of installing solar rooftops on one crore homes will be connected to the grid.
