India will overtake China as the largest growth market for energy in volume terms by 2030, said Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. India, Asia's second biggest energy consumer since 2008, had in 2015 overtaken Japan as the world's third largest oil consuming country, behind the US and China.
"We are third largest energy consumer now but by 2030 we will be No.1 energy consumer," he said at a FICCI meeting. While energy consumption will grow by 4.5 per cent per annum -- faster than all major economies in the world -- India's consumption growth of fossil fuels would be the largest in the world.
The country is 83 per cent dependent on imports to meet its oil needs and sources half of its natural gas from overseas. Pradhan said while the global average growth was 1.4 per cent, India was seeing a growth rate of 4.5 per cent.
"We will use a combination of conventional fuel and other more sustainable options to create a balanced energy mix. We will also explore other new and sustainable sources of energy like hydrogen. Technology, innovation will play an important role in this," he said.
He also said that India is moving towards a gas-based economy and investments of about USD 100 billion are underway in India's energy infrastructure, including renewables.
Speaking about bio energy, he said, "India has 600 million tonnes of bio mass. On one hand we are ensuring the highest standards of sustainability through BS-VI, on the other hand, we have made a roadmap to convert this bio mass to energy. 5,000 plants are going to be set up for this. Oil and gas PSUs are giving uptake guarantee and price stability. This will also be an answer to the problem of environment pollution."
