India didn't undermine its commitment to sustainability: Hardeep at World Economic Forum

NEW DELHI: Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday said that India is making a transition to sustainability so as to deliver basic welfare to a large and growing population amidst the multiple crises the world is facing. Addressing at a session themed 'Energy amid Rivalry', at the ongoing World Economic Forum at Davos, Puri said that India has never allowed to undermine or dilute its commitment to sustainability and green energy transition.

"In these new challenges which arise and how we face them. There is a global commitment, we have not allowed our domestic preoccupations in any way to undermine or dilute our commitment to sustainability," he said.

India, the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer, is dependent on crude oil from various sources in the global market to meet its domestic demand.

"Changes that are taking place in the world, and we are facing multiple crises. For a country like India, which now has I think the largest population in the world, it requires a transition to sustainability. Without it, anyway, jeopardizing or undermining the need to deliver basic welfare to a large and growing population."

He contended that India's economy being close to USD 4 trillion and the fastest growing large economy, has a lot of developmental challenges.

He informed WEF that India grew by upwards of 7 per cent during the past three quarters.

About India's demand for outlook, he said the consumption is growing at three times the global average and will account for 25 per cent in the next decades or so.

"If you look at the global scenario today, India's consumption is growing at three times the global average. In the next 20 years or so, India will account for 25 per cent of the energy demand globally," the minister said.

"Today what happens in India is important for the rest of the world...all these new challenges that we have to face, we have to face them pragmatically. I say this not to provoke anyone, but to just mention. If India had chosen in that point of time not to be pragmatic, we would have had a situation where oil would have gone beyond USD 200 dollars. Why? We import 85 per cent of our crude, and we have to deal with the issues of availability, affordability, and sustainability. If India had allowed itself to be put into a situation where we were to draw on the same sources."

Other parts of the world didn't take the kind of position India took, and the government was "acutely conscious" of it, he noted.

"In these new challenges which arise and how we face them. There is a global commitment, we have not allowed our domestic preoccupations in any way undermine or dilute our commitment to sustainability," he noted, referring to India's biofuel and green hydrogen programme.

India committed to an ambitious five-part "Panchamrit" pledge at COP26, held in 2021.

They included reaching 500 GW of non-fossil electricity capacity, generating half of all energy requirements from renewables, to reducing emissions by 1 billion tonnes by 2030.

India also aims to reduce the emissions intensity of GDP by 45 per cent. Finally, India commits to net-zero emissions by 2070. It is noteworthy to mention that the Houthis have launched several drone and missile attacks on Israel since it went to war with Hamas in Gaza.

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