By IANS
New Delhi : India’s energy sector requires investment to the tune of $120-150 billion over the next five years to build increased capabilities and upgrade technology, says an industry report.
The sector can realise its full potential only when developmental strategies are built on a sound public-private partnership model, said the report entitled “India Energy Inc – Emerging Opportunities and Challenges” brought out jointly by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and KPMG, a global consulting firm.
“Policies have increasingly recognised the need to promote private investment. Private interest in captive coal mining, oil and gas exploration and in power sector has shown significant progress and is also envisaged in nuclear sector,” the report said.
According to it, the sector also has tremendous potential to attract investments because the country’s current level of energy consumption is very low compared with the rest of the world.
“With a target GDP (gross domestic product) growth rate of 8-10 percent… energy requirement is expected to grow at 6.4-8 percent. This would mean a five-fold increase in India’s energy requirement over the next 25 years,” the report highlighted.
Energy transport infrastructure such as ports, railways, pipelines and power transmission networks would also need significant amount of investment.
The report noted that reforms in tariff and distribution also need focus to make the sector more efficient.
It also highlighted huge investment potential other prominent areas of coal, oil, gas, nuclear, hydro and renewable energy.
The report has recommended certain measures to meet the country’s growing energy needs and demands.
Apart from large-scale private participation, the report has urged for encouraging market mechanisms that would bring in efficiencies and also encourage investments by minimising regulatory risks.
Some of its other demands are lowering price vulnerability, supply uncertainties and clear policy framework.