Making a case for use of cleaner fuel, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power, New & Renewable Energy, Coal and Mines, Piyush Goyal, said that India’s true demand for gas is not being met.

Speaking at the ministerial session on ‘hydrocarbons to fuel the future: choices and challenges’ at the 12th Petrotech Goyal said that to flire up gas-based power plants in the country, there is a constant hunt for long-term commitments for fuel supply from different parts of the world.

“We hope to see some engagements where we can bring down price of gas so that we can start powering our gas-based power plants,” he said.

“We are importing 81 per cent of our oil demand and 37 per cent of our gas demand. And this is because we are not consuming gas to the extent we can. India’s true demand for gas is not being really explored,” he said.

Goyal added that he hoped discussions at Petrotech would help in coming out with a more robust policy framework to expand the use of gas in the days to come.

Stating that fossil fuels will continue to play an important role in the days to come, Goyal pointed out that “we have to continuously engage to bring down emissions, keeping in mind our goals. Power is an integral part of the total energy chain.” India stands committed in this global effort to fight problems of climate change, he said.

On the issue of falling prices of batteries and increasing possibility of electric cars, Goyal said the use of petrol and diesel in the automobile sector is another area where India is evolving. “…new policy is evolving, new plans going forward, which will help us cut down on use of petrol and diesel and moving towards electricity for powering our automobiles and simultaneous efforts to cut carbon emissions,” he said.

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