Global economy on the basis of oil at $110 a barrel is not sustainable, Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said in Bengaluru on Saturday at an event of the India Foundation amid rising fuel prices in the country that have triggered inflation concerns.
“We have a problem in the short term. I have friends from the US and others sitting here. Global economy on the basis of $110 a barrel oil is not sustainable. Inflationary situation in the US is at a 50-year high, there is steepest fall in living standards in the UK and countries around India — Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan — are in deep trouble. Yet, in India, thanks to a very strong political leadership and farsightedness of our people, there is no energy shortage,” the minister said.
He said these were difficult times but “India will navigate through those difficult times and ensure energy security…. petrol prices are what they are.”
Puri said 60 million people go to petrol pumps to fill up fuel and that in the next 10-20 years, “India will be the critical driver for the demand in the energy sector”. He said India will take its refining capacity from 250 million tonnes per annum to 400 million tonnes “before too long…We will not only supply India’s needs but the needs of a large number of other countries”.
The Way Ahead Forward: ‘$5 Trillion Economy Ahead of Time’
Puri said “we are still not fully exploiting the enormous human and economic potential that we possess as a country” but added that India was on the path to doing so. “Following the pandemic, India has emerged as a much stronger player in the international community on international trade and economic exchanges,” the minister said.
“I believe that the target of a $5 trillion economy by 2025 or $10 trillion economy by 2030 is not only achievable but we will get there before time,” the minister claimed. “You can be a bit dismissive thinking I am always upbeat and slightly over-optimistic but I have good reason to think so,” Puri added.
The minister also said India will be increasing bio-fuel blending. “We were at 1.4% when the Narendra Modi government came in. Yesterday we were at 10%. The target of 20% ethanol or bio-fuel blending was 2030 — we will achieve it in 2025,” Puri said. He also recounted India’s recent efforts in the areas of green hydrogen and solar energy. “My oil companies have plans to put up 22,000 electric charging stations at our fuel pumps and increase it by 305. You will get electric cars if you have charging stations,” Puri said.
He said the PM decided “in a very bold manner” at COP in Glasgow to go ahead and change what was perceived as India’s position. Puri said he was slightly surprised by that announcement too. “He made it much forward-looking (net zero),”he said.
He also hailed government efforts in promoting entrepreneurship, which had been evidenced in form of only one unicorn created daily between 2011 and 2014 to 10 in 2020 and 44 in 2021. “There is a spirit of innovation and entrepreneurial spirit in India,” the minister said.
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