President expresses concern over India insufficient energy resources

Updated on: Thursday, August 29, 2013

Expressing concern over India's insufficient energy resources, President Pranab Mukherjee said the country needs quick technology innovations to address its energy requirements for oil, coal and gas.

"In today's context, the importance of energy and energy security is paramount. With rising crude oil prices, depreciating domestic currency and increasing oil imports, we stare at an acute prospect of having to incur huge foreign exchange outgo to buy expensive energy," he told scientists of CSIR-sponsored Indian Institute of Petroleum (IIP) after inaugurating a laboratory.

"Energy security has become synonymous with national security. It has been projected that by 2030, we would have to meet 90 per cent of our crude oil, 60 per cent of our natural gas and 57 per cent of our coal requirements will have to be supplied from imported sources.

"I am yet to hear a debate by our scientists and technologists as to how our country can become self-sufficient in energy. Even the more optimistic experts point out that India has insufficient energy resources," he said.

Mukherjee exemplified some initiatives taken by the US in this context.

"A few years ago, a similar debate was heard in the US. But the US has proved everyone wrong as it has turned itself from being a huge net energy importer to being self-sufficient through the discovery of shale gas.

"This has been possible because of a crucial technological breakthrough in efficient recovery of shale gas," he said.

President expresses concern over India insufficient energy resources

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