New Delhi: Union Minster of State (IC) for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines, Shri Piyush Goyal chaired a Ministerial session on ‘Hydrocarbons to fuel the Future: Choices and Challenges’ at the Petrotech-2016 here today. Other dignitaries on the dais were H.E. Mr. Bechir Madet, Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Chad, H.E. Mr. EzeKiel Lol Gatkuoth, Minister of Petroleum, South Sudan, H.E. Dr. Mohammed Zayed Awad, Minister of Petroleum and Gas, Sudan, Her Excellency Ms. Irene Muloni, Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, Uganda and Dr. Orlando Velandia, President of National Hydrocarbons Agency of Columbia. The session was moderated by the Boston Consulting Group.
Congratulating the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India, Shri Goyal said that it is heartening to see that the 12th International Oil and Gas Conference has had such a wide ranging participation, with delegations from various oil producing and exporting countries from around the world along with other stakeholders of the oil and gas sector.
The Minister added that the Petrotech-2016 has set a benchmark as a meeting point for cutting-edge technologies in the sector, on one hand and as a platform for building new business relations and the exchange of expertise and best practices from around the world, on the other.
Further, Shri Goyal emphasized on the point that India, despite the dominance of fossil fuels in its energy mix in the near future due its development imperatives, stands committed to the Global efforts to fight Climate Change. He added that it is imperative to explore new technologies for developing greener fuels by increasing the use of renewable sources of energy and working towards achieving greater energy efficiency in power generation, transmission and distribution.
During his address, the Minister noted that Government of India is preparing a holistic framework so as to cut our dependence on fossil fuel imports and to become self-reliant in the oil and natural gas sector. Further, the ensuing policy changes would be in consonance with India’s commitments at the Paris Climate Summit for reducing the carbon intensity of GDP growth, he added.
Talking further on the initiatives on reducing India’s carbon footprint, the Minister said that India has taken a lead in the field of energy efficiency. He added that currently India has replaced one-third of total old energy inefficient incandescent bulbs and CFL lamps with LED lights which has resulted in a reduction in the carbon emissions of about 80 million tonnes a year and a saving of about 20GW of peak load.
“We have to look at a World beyond Fossil Fuels”, said Shri Goyal while reiterating the vision of Prime Minister of India of ‘Achieving Energy Security for India based on Clean Fuels’. The Minister noted that the domestic demand for gas in the sector of power generation has not been fully met at present, though he expressed optimism that the new partnerships formed with the participating stakeholders at Petrotech-2016 would help us revive India’s stranded Gas based power plants in the near future.
Shri Goyal envisioned that gas based power generation is the key to achieve Government of India’s goal of ‘24×7 Power for All’. He was optimistic that the efficiency of gas based power plants would increase as gas prices come down in the near future. “Building partnerships with energy rich nations and exchanging new technologies and best practices with each other is the only way to provide affordable, accessible and sustainable power for all”, he said.
In his concluding remarks, Shri Goyal said that the partnership between the Ministries of Power and Petroleum & Natural Gas has reaped rich dividends in achieving a secure energy future for the people of India. Such partnerships can be extended to include all the stakeholders of Petrotech-2016 so as to magnify the positive results in the times to come, he added.
In the session, there were presentations from the participating Overseas Ministers on the overall energy scenario in their respective countries and the prospects of collaboration, investment opportunities and technology exchange avenues with all the stakeholders at the Petrotech-2016.
