India has one of the lowest carbon emissions in the industrialized world, said PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that India’s energy plan aims to ensure energy justice keeping in mind sustainable growth. He said that the changes in the energy sector over the years have particularly helped the rural areas, middle class, and the women of the country.

Speaking at the India Energy Forum, he said, “India’s energy plan aims to ensure energy justice, that too by fully following our global commitments for sustainable growth. This means more energy to improve the lives of Indians but with a smaller carbon footprint.”

The Prime Minister noted that India has one of the lowest carbon emissions than the rest of the industrialized world.

Talking about what makes India the most attractive energy market for clean energy investment, the Prime Minister said, “In the last six years, over 11 million smart LED street lights were installed. This has enabled an estimated energy saving of 60 billion units per year. The estimated greenhouse gas emission reduction with this program is over 4.5 crore tonnes of carbon dioxide annually."

"India's reform journey has been on the high speed in the last six years," he emphasized.

The energy sector in India has been working keeping in mind the global goal. The Prime Minister said that India has extended the renewable energy installed capacity to 450GW by 2030, which was earlier 175GW by 2022.

The Prime Minister pointed out that India believes that access to energy must be affordable and reliable. “That is when socio-economic transformation can take place. We view the energy sector as one that empowers people and further eases up living,” he said.

In his concluding remarks, the Prime Minister said that the plan is to achieve a One Nation One Gas grid and shift towards the gas-based economy.

“To increase domestic production of natural gas and to bring uniformity in the market price discovery of gas, we have announced Natural Gas Marketing Reforms earlier this month. A Self-reliant India will also be a Force Multiplier for the global economy. During these challenging times, we have witnessed investment through the oil and gas value chain. We are seeing similar signs in other sectors too,” PM Modi said.

The event convened an international group of speakers and a community of over a thousand delegates from India and over 30 countries. The speakers at the event included Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Minister of Steel, Dharmendra Pradhan, Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud, Minister of Energy, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Dan Brouillette, US Secretary of Energy among others.

The Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan, in his address said India is the third-largest energy consumer and the demand is expected to grow further. The energy agenda in India is inclusive and sensitive to climate change, he added.