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India needs aggressive energy policy for sustained 9-10 per cent GDP growth: Amitabh Kant
India requires an aggressive energy policy that promotes domestic manufacturing and cuts down import dependence to ensure sustained 9-10 per cent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate over years, NITI Aayog Chief Executive Amitabh Kant said.
Such a policy is essential to boost the share of the manufacturing sector in the country’s GDP to 25 per cent, he said speaking at an oil and gas industry event. “The need is to grow at 9-10 percent year-on-year for three decades to lift the young above the poverty line. For this, we will have to drive manufacturing sector to about 25 per cent of GDP. We will need a very aggressive energy policy for this,” Kant said.
He added the nation needs to work on a consistent, predictable and clear policy framework which stands the test of time to attract investments in the oil and gas sector. “The key pillars of Make in India initiative in the energy sector is discovering oil and gas rather than importing, indigenously manufacturing the equipment used in the sector and developing in-house expertise in our own companies to provide the necessary services, technology and manpower required in this high-tech industry.”
India’s indigenous crude oil production fell 3.3 percent to 713 Thousand Tonne (TMT) in the first seven months of the current fiscal as compared to the corresponding period last fiscal. Crude oil imports rose more than 8 per cent to 125 Million Tonne (MT) in the April-October period.
Kant also pointed out India’s approach for promoting Make in India in the petroleum sector is to bring global companies to India and make it rewarding to discover oil and gas in the country. “Unless we allow these companies to create wealth, India will not be able to create wealth in this sector,” he said, adding it is very important to create an incentive structure which is at par with international standards.
India’s hydrocarbon sector received Rs 677 crore worth of foreign investments last financial year, according to data available with the oil ministry. The investment inflows are expected to grow tenfold in the present fiscal primarily due to the acquisition of Essar Oil and its Vadinar refinery by Russia’s oil major Rosneft. The acquisition is estimated to be around Rs 72,800 crore in value.
The NITI Aayog CEO also expressed pleasure at Mumbai developing into an Information Technology centre for global petroleum players including Schlumberger and CGT Petroleum. He said the idea of Make in India for the oil and gas sector will fructify when foreign and Indian companies come together to explore, discover, refine and market oil and gas and tap India’s potential based on suitable and consistent policy framework. Darqueze Dennard Authentic Jersey
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