India’s emergence as the demand centre for energy in the world provided arbitrage opportunities for procuring natural gas, said Pankaj Jain, Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. He was speaking yesterday at the Spotlight Session titled ‘India – a blueprint of energy transition for emerging economies’ at the India Energy Week 2024 in Goa.
The secretary added that the opportunities to execute natural gas procurement deals much below the market rate existed, and that the Indian government encouraged such sellers to engage in negotiations.
As a cornerstone of energy transition, natural gas would continue to see wider adoption in India due to infrastructure upgrade in terms of terminal capacity and pipeline network, said Jain. He added that diversification of fuel sources, both domestically and globally, was key to making the cleaner natural gas available to consumers.
Referring to sectors that could enhance the current level of natural gas usage in the country, the secretary said that scaling of gas-based mobility and expansion of piped gas connections to homes would also be demand drivers for natural gas.
Addressing the question of inviting global energy companies to operate in India, the secretary said that the entities in the energy ecosystem needed to be assured that India was a different place to conduct business now.
Jain said that the removal of a million square kilometres of no-go zones for exploration and production was one such step in the direction.
Unique solutions to energy problems
Additionally, the secretary said that IEW 2024 provided an opportunity for exhibitors to showcase unique solutions to energy problems.
He pointed to the various solutions being developed by start-ups as examples, and mentioned the electrolyser displayed by BPCL as a success story for indigenous technology development.
Jain elaborated that expediting and expanding the adoption of biofuels was incumbent on scaling up production of the fuel at an affordable cost. Recent progress in two key areas of biofuel production — feedstock collection and processing facilities — were promising, he added.
“Some years ago it was unimaginable that municipal solid waste could be segregated. But it’s happing now,” Jain said.
He added that the government was working on mechanisation, infrastructure support, and improving local networks to improve aggregation of feedstock. The secretary also lauded small and medium enterprises as the unsung heroes of biofuel production enhancement.