New Delhi, Oct 26 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that in spite of various challenges, India is projected to emerge as a leading energy consumer and to nearly double its energy consumption over the long term.
Delivering the inaugural address at 4th India Energy Forum CERA Week through videoconference, the Prime Minister said ,'In spite of various challenges like fall in energy demand by almost one third, prevailing price instability, impacted investment decisions, projected contraction in global energy demand over the next few years, India is projected to emerge as a leading energy consumer and is projected to nearly double its energy consumption over the long term.'
Speaking at the energy forum, whose theme was "India's Energy Future in a world of Change", Mr Modi pointed that India is the third largest and the fastest growing aviation market in terms of domestic aviation and Indian carriers are projected to increase their fleet size from 600 to 1,200 by 2024.
He said India believes that access to energy must be affordable and reliable.'That is when socio-economic transformations can take place,' Mr Modi said.
The Prime Minister said India's Energy Plan aims to ensure energy justice while fully following India’s global commitments for sustainable growth.
'This means more energy is needed to improve the lives of Indians with a smaller carbon foot-print,'he said.
He envisioned India’s energy sector to be growth centric, industry friendly and environment conscious. Mr Modi said India is among the most active nations in furthering renewable sources of energy.
The Prime Minister listed the interventions which made India the most attractive emerging market for clean energy investment viz, distributing more than 36 crore LED bulbs, reducing the cost of LED bulbs by 10 fold, installing over 1.1 crore smart LED street-lights in the last 6 years.
He said these interventions have enabled an estimated energy savings of 60 billion units per year, estimated green-house gas emission reduction of over 4.5 crore tonnes of Carbon dioxide annually and monetary savings of around Rs. 24,000 crore annually.
The Prime Minister remarked that India is well on track to meet the global commitment. He said the target to increase the installed renewable energy capacity to 175 GW by 2022 has been further extended to 450 GW by 2030.
He said in spite of India having one of the lowest carbon emissions than the rest of the industrialized world, India would continue its efforts to fight climate change.
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