This comes at a time when the country’s fuel sales is on a recovery track amid the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi likely to further encourage oil and gas companies to promote a self-reliant India during the India Energy Forum later today, the country's oil and natural gas sector is likely to see investment to the tune of $206 billion during the next eight to ten years.

“The importance of such a global meet comes when you realize that the country is set to see such large investment this decade. This includes investments to the tune of $67 billion in gas infrastructure -- LNG capacity increase, pipelines, and CGD networks. Global players like Total, Exxon Mobil, and Shell have shown their interests in this field” a government official was quoted as saying in a Business Standard report.

He said that put together, Reliance-BP, ONGC, and Oil India, exploration and production scenario would see an investment of around $59 billion as per the report. Another investment of $80 billion is likely in the downstream segment, including marketing, refinery expansions, and new refinery plans like Vizag, Barmer, Paradip, and Ratnagiri, the source said, according to the report.

This comes at a time when the country’s fuel sales is on a recovery track coming out of the demand contraction that happened due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and consequent lockdowns.

The report noted that the petrol demand was up by 1.5 percent; Diesel by 8.79 percent and LPG by 6.93 percent compared to the October 1-15 period of 2019. According to estimates quoted in the report, India’s energy demand would grow at about three percent a year until 2040.

The government source quoted in the report further said that the share of renewable in electricity capacity has significantly gone up now to 22 percent from around 10 percent in 2014-15. He attributed the change to the government’s successful schemes in this sector.

The three-day India Energy Forum will see participation from US Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette, the Minister of Energy of Saudi Arabia Prince and the CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber.

The key topics to be discussed in the event include the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on India’s future energy demand, securing supplies for India’s economic growth, climate change agenda, natural gas in India’s Energy Mix, and so on.