Addressing the third annual leadership summit of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Steel, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan invited US companies to partner in Aatmanirbhar Bharat campaign.
USISPF, a non-profit organization that works for partnership between India and the US is organizing this summit over a period of five days from August 31 to September 4, 2020 on the theme of “Navigating New Challenges”.
Shri Pradhan threw light on the unprecedented impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on global economy and the contraction in energy demand. He said that economic activities are gradually picking up as industries have restarted operations in a calibrated way and energy consumption is expected to reach the pre-Covid levels in the coming quarters.
Elaborating on the Aatmanirbhar Bharat campaign he said that the Government of India launched this campaign under the leadership of its Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to make India self-reliant. The campaign aims to convert Covid-19 challenges to opportunities, merge domestic production and consumption with global supply chains, and transform India into a global manufacturing hub.
Underlining the importance of energy infrastructure as a key to transformation in India the minister invited US industry leaders to take advantage of the opportunities being created in Indian energy sector.
Shri Pradhan pointed to the growing bilateral hydrocarbon trade between India and US that touched around US$ 9b during FY 2019-2020 and are expected to rise further as companies are looking to source more crude oil and LNG from the US at competitive rates. He said that this was an encouraging sign and US companies should draw inspiration from this to look for tie-ups in other areas in the energy sector.
The minister highlighted the importance of gas sector in the strategic energy partnership as India is working to transform the country into a gas based economy by increasing the share of gas from 6% to 15% in the energy mix by 2030. Overall, the country is estimated to make an investment of $60b in the sector to make India “One Nation, One Gas Grid”.
Pradhan acknowledged global oil and gas majors such as BP, Shell, Total, and Exxon Mobil to name a few for setting up their bases in India. He invited the US companies to take advantage of reforms in the exploration and production sector and participate in the next oil and gas block bidding rounds.
Concluding his address the minister said that India and the US have closely collaborated on several projects including in stabilizing global energy markets. He reaffirmed that despite Covid-19 challenges industry leaders are optimistic on reinvigorating energy linkages between the two countries.
Dr. Mukesh Aghi, CEO, USISPF said that the USISPF will facilitate greater collaborations between the US and Indian companies for the success of Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
