Hydrocarbon potential being appraised; data to help make informed decisions: Govt.

NEW DELHI: The government is currently in the process of extensively appraising the hydrocarbon potential in the country and National Data Repository (NDR) programme has been launched to accumulate relevant data which could be provided to potential investors for making informed exploration decisions. The government has also revamped the process of procurement and assimilation of data to make it more precise and easily accessible to stakeholders.
This was stated here on Thursday by Mr.K D Tripathi, Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Government of India, while addressing FICCI’s 4th National Conference on Energy Security on the theme ‘Energy Transition-Building a New Energy Security Architecture’.
Mr. Tripathi said that India was concentrating on becoming a gas-based economy and moving away from its dependency on fossil fuels. In the developed nations the share of gas in the energy mix averaged 25%, whereas in India it stood at 6%. Thus there was a need to explore more avenues to enhance use of gas as fuel and for the requirements of energy in the country.
Alluding to various government initiatives, Mr. Tripathi said that the four pillars of India’s energy future were access, efficiency, sustainability and supply security. The fundamental change in the coal block auction and the revenue-sharing model has enabled the stakeholders to work actively in the sector. He added that the government was making efforts to make
energy accessible at an affordable price to the people at the bottom of the pyramid.
On the occasion, the Secretary along with other dignitaries released a knowledge paper ‘Building a new energy security architecture’.
Mr. Amit Khera, Partner, McKinsey & Company, said that for building a new energy security architecture the need was to drive coordinated policy and regulations to ensure economic visibility of investments; enable visible improvement in ease of doing business; stimulate infrastructure buildout to develop next-generation supply chains; adopt a systemic approach and create an improved technology, manufacturing and services ecosystem; and drive risk reduction in international supply by strengthening PSUs and creating partnerships with sellers.
Speaking about the knowledge paper, Mr. R. S. Sharma, Chairman, FICCI Hydrocarbons Committee and Former CMD, ONGC, said that it was a comprehensive report which could act as a reference document with its rich content and data. He added that FICCI’s endeavor was to pursue the goal of energy security and work in tandem with the government to enhance India’s
energy security.
Mr. Narendra Taneja, Leading Energy Expert and Co-Chair, FICCI Hydrocarbon Committee & Chairman, Energy Security Group, said that it was time to end the energy apartheid in the country and discrimination in terms of mobilizing energy for the poor. The need was for the major companies in the energy domain to recast their DNA to make the sector future ready.
Mr. Taneja said that the energy sector’s architectural landscape was undergoing a transformative change with the new disruptive technologies and geo-politics playing a critical role. With new trends and alliances being formed across the globe, there was a major shift taking a place and renewables were gaining ground with solar energy, in particular, revolutionizing the energy mix.
Ms. Ambika Sharma, Director General, FICCI, said that the BRICS Business Council which FICCI supports from India has requested the New Development Bank (NDB) to establish a BRICS renewable energy fund and to adopt a set of specific polices within the NDB to support implementation of the energy projects in BRICS and other emerging economies. She added that the soon to be released National Energy Policy (NEP) would be a coordinating document of the overall energy policy so that we move forward with consensus.