India setting direction for the world’s development: PM Modi

Panaji, Feb 6:  Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that India was among the few nations where 100 per cent electricity coverage was achieved by electrifying crores of houses thus deciding the direction of the world’s development.

PM Modi inaugurated the 'India Energy Week 2024' in South-Goa. Governor of Goa P.S. Sreedharan Pillai, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri and Union Minister of State for Petroleum, Oil and Natural Gas, Rameswar Teli were present on the occasion.

“Despite adverse global factors, India is among the few nations where petrol prices have come down and 100 per cent electricity coverage was achieved by electrifying crores of houses. India is not only meeting its needs, but is also deciding the direction of development of the world,” Modi said.

India Energy Week 2024 is India’s largest and only all-encompassing energy exhibition and conference, bringing together the entire energy value chain to catalyze India's energy transition goals.

“This event is taking place when India’s GDP rate crossed 7.5 per cent in the first six months of the financial year, which is higher than the global growth estimate making India the fastest growing economy in the world,” he said.

He also mentioned the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) prediction of similar growth trends in the future. “Economic experts around the world believe that India will soon become the 3rd largest economy in the world,” PM Modi said.

He said that India is the world's third largest energy, oil and LPG consumer. “India is the fourth largest LNG importer and refiner along with the fourth largest automobile market,” he added.

He also underlined rising demand of EV in the country. He also talked about the estimates of doubling the nation’s energy demand by 2045.

The Prime Minister noted the rising production of domestic gas due to the government’s reforms and the country making efforts to take the percentage of gas in the primary energy mix from 6 to 15 per cent. “This will see an investment of about 67 billion dollars in the next 5-6 years,” he said.

PM Modi said the government's commitment is to transform rural economies through the Waste to Wealth Management model.

“We are working towards the installation of 5,000 Compressed Biogas Plants in India,” he said.

Addressing global environmental concerns, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “Despite being home to 17 per cent of the world's population, India's Carbon Emission Share is only 4 per cent,"

He also said that India’s goal is to achieve Net Zero Emissions by 2070.