India Wants To Utilise Its G20 Presidency For Large Energy Grouping: Hardeep Puri

Bengaluru: The Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Friday said that the Indian government wants to utilise India's G20 presidency for a large energy grouping. While speaking at the curtain raiser event of India Energy Week (IEW) 2023 in Bengaluru, the minister mentioned, "Not only in the perspective of producing or consuming, you can also perceive the collaborated venture as South-South cooperation later on."

India Energy Week 2023 is being organised during India's G20 presidency, under the tagline "Growth, Collaboration, Transition", from February 6-8, 2023 in Bengaluru. Meanwhile, the Indian government is also working on developing alternative, clean and green fuels like bio-ethanol, bio-CNG, bio-LNG and green hydrogen. Therefore it will certainly pitch for a global alliance on biofuels on the lines of the highly-successful International Solar Alliance. Puri said, "We have confidence now on the biofuel cooperation, as if you produce 1,000 crore litres of Ethanol by 2024-25, we will end up securing the position of 2nd or 3rd from the fifth largest Ethanol producer."

The minister also said that "...we will exercise our prerogative as a host country. The first text over the cooperation will be shared with countries before the India Energy Week (IEW), I believe."

He however feels that many countries might not be interested in collaborating on biofuel or Ethanol production, because of the geographical challenges- Sugar needs water. "One of the shining features of the energy in the world, it is largely capital intensive and it is seen that those who make investment have a very fine sense of where the opportunity lies," Puri added.

India is keen to reduce its dependence on imported crude oil and Ethanol-blended petrol is part of that strategy. It aspires to reach a 20 per cent ethanol blending target by 2025 for which it will need 1,000 crore litres of Ethanol. Currently, most of this Ethanol is made from molasses, a by-product of sugarcane. The production process uses a lot of water. Every litre of Ethanol needs 2,860 litres of water.

The minister also said that IEW 2023 will provide an unprecedented opportunity for energy innovators. Puri also showcased the tremendous strides India has made in the energy sector including in making India an investment-friendly destination in the exploration and production sector, energy infrastructure and for shifting the manufacturing centre to India.

Some of these initiatives included- reducing 'No Go' areas by almost 99 per cent, easy access to data through the National Data Repository (NDR) project and Hydrocarbon Resource Assessment (HRA) project, launching of stratigraphic wells initiative, robust City Gas Distribution system, considerable impetus to gas infrastructure etc. Minister also reiterated the steps the government was taking to ensure that the 60 million consumers who on average visit the petrol pumps on a daily basis are safeguarded from the extreme volatility visible in global energy markets. He also welcomed all the participants to join the Indian grown story and invited the attendees to IEW 2023.

The India Energy Week 2023 is expected to feature more than 30 energy Ministers, 50 CEOs and 10,000+ delegates. It will provide a unique opportunity to showcase India as both an engine of global economic growth and a driver for global consumption, supported by a conducive and investment-friendly environment, and a skilled workforce. IEW 2023 will provide an unprecedented opportunity for regional, international leaders and CEOs to come together for strategic policy-making and technical knowledge sharing.

The minister also informed that during the IEW 2023, through 19 strategic conference sessions, the comprehensive gamut of issues covering the entire energy sector would be discussed and deliberated by panels of Energy Ministers from various countries, CEOs or leaders of energy majors, etc. The Strategic Conference of IEW 2023 covers themes such as Energy Security, pathways for decarbonization, Resilient Energy Supply Chains, Emerging Fuels such as Biofuel and Hydrogen, Investments in upstream and midstream sectors etc.

Besides the IEW 2023 will also have technical and commercial conference sessions, wherein critical aspects of prevailing and prospective energy market scenarios will be deliberated upon.