Petroleum Minister S. Jaipal Reddy, while ruling out any revision in diesel prices for now, said there was no question of Government interfering with non-subsidised domestic LPG prices. He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Petrotech 2012 conference.

Earlier, while chairing the session on “Securing Growth: Energy & Prosperity,” Reddy emphasised the need for proactive action on three fronts — developing domestic reserves, assessing global energy sources, and ensuring energy efficiency — to ensure energy security in the country.

Focus areas

He said “all these three priorities will be focus areas in developing countries over the coming decades.”

Reddy said “For India, energy security is a truly central issue. India is likely to emerge as one of the top 3{+r}{+d} or 4{+t}{+h} importers in the world, of all energy forms — oil, coal, gas and uranium.”

There are several specific concerns regarding energy security for India. “For instance, energy demand from coal is likely to constitute half of our total energy demand, as a result of which India’s share in global coal consumption will double by 2050,” he said, adding that “though India is making strong strides towards increasing reliance on renewables, hydro and nuclear power, there are natural limits to the extent that these sources of energy can be developed.”

Constraints

The use of gas for power is likely to be constrained by availability of domestic gas, and the price of imported gas, unless Asian LNG prices delink from crude, or we are able to secure large, reliable supplies of gas from overseas.

“Indian companies integrating backwards will emerge as new global resource developers, opening up new basins and supply sources. However, these projects continue to be subject to significant market risk, given the high development and infrastructure costs, price volatility and shifting supply and demand mix,” he added.

> richa.mishra@thehindu.co.in

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