Dharmendra Pradhan invites US firms to invest in India’s energy sector

Dharmendra Pradhan

Prior to the second ministerial meeting of India and US Strategic Energy Partnership which is scheduled on July 17, 2020,  Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel, along with the US Secretary of Energy, Dan Brouillette, co-chaired an industry-level interaction, organized by US-India Business Council (USIBC) on July 16. Also, on July 15, the Minister separately chaired another industry-level interaction organized by the US-India Strategic Energy Partnership (USISPF).

Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas Tarun Kapoor, Indian Ambassador to the US Taranjit Sandhu, representatives of various energy-related Ministries of Government of India and US and representatives from Indian and US companies also participated in the virtual meeting.

During these interactions, Pradhan invited US companies and investors to engage and invest in India in new opportunities. He said that there have been a few collaborative efforts between Indian and American companies in this sector, but it is far below their potential. He characterised the resilience of the US-India Energy Partnership as one of the most durable pillars on which India-US Strategic Partnership rests.

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Also, Pradhan said that even during these challenging times, India and the US have been working in close collaboration, be it in stabilizing global energy markets or in collaborative efforts to address COVID-19. He said, “In today’s turbulent world, one constant is –and always will be –the strength of our bilateral partnership.”

Considering the partnership, Pradhan said that cooperation in the natural gas sector has been identified as a priority area. The Minister mentioned about several upcoming new opportunities in the field of LNG bunkering, LNG ISO container development, petrochemicals, bio-fuels, and Compressed Bio-Gas in the Indian energy sector.

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Further, talking about the far-reaching changes and policy reforms underway in the exploration and production sector in India he said, India will see an investment of over US$118 billion in oil and gas exploration as well as in setting up natural gas infrastructure, including the development of gas supply and distribution networks in the next five years as the country prepares to meet the needs of a fast-growing economy.

(with inputs from PIB)

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