“We are working towards balancing our requirements”

DHARMENDRA PRADHAN, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas

Speaking at a session on ‘The New Energy Equation’, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan, said India has focussed heavily on renewable energy sources and will achieve its aim of 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022. He, however, acknowledged that India’s consumption of petroleum will remain high and it will be dependent on oil for several years to come. “Next 20 years, India will be depending on conventional sources of energy – fossil fuels and hydrocarbons. As we are a growing country, I am sure our requirements will grow, and we are working towards balancing our requirements,” he said.

“Our per capita consumption is very low and we will continue to depend on imports...my expectation as a consumer would be that the prices should not pinch our domestic economy. The producing country should look into the interests of the consuming country. We should have more capex in exploration and production area,” Pradhan outlined.