As India promotes its 7.6 billion tonnes of discovered upstream resources, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday invited international energy companies to explore investments in the world’s third largest energy consumer’s natural gas sector.
In his video address at the India Energy Week (IEW) 2025, the Prime Minister highlighted India’s efforts to explore the potential of its hydrocarbon resources.
“Due to several discoveries and expanding gas pipeline network, the supply of natural gas has increased. This is the reason that in the coming times the consumption of natural gas will increase. This is opening up investment opportunities for you in these sectors,” he emphasised.
The Prime Minister noted that India is currently the world’s fourth largest refining hub and is working to increase its capacity by 20 per cent.
Diversified investments
Modi said that India’s energy ambitions are built on five pillars—harnessing resources, encouraging innovation among brilliant minds, economic strength and political stability, strategic geography making energy trade attractive and easier, and commitment to global sustainability.
Building on the Prime Minister’s narrative, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri stressed that India presents a “compelling and diversified investment” landscape.
“7.6 billion tonnes of discovered upstream resources, 500 million tonnes (mt) of biofuel feedstock, and rising energy demand. At the same time, it is scaling renewables, targeting 5 mt of hydrogen by 2030, $96 billion in hydrogen investments, and a gas share increase from 6 per cent to 15 per cent, alongside $30 billion in refining and petrochemical expansion,” he added.
Puri opined that the answer to energy transition lies in strategic investment across hydrocarbons and renewables.
“The future lies in smart capital reallocation, for instance, deploying wind and solar where intermittency is manageable, biofuels where liquid fuel demand persists, and gas where firm power is essential. That is how we ensure both affordability and decarbonisation,” the Minister added.
The Minister said that answers to energy transition lies in strategic investment across hydrocarbons and renewables.
Clean cooking & AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) is now one of the largest energy consumers, with data centre demand rising 18-20 per cent annually by 2030.
India’s AI-driven digital economy, projected to reach $400 billion by 2030, presents both a challenge and an opportunity, Puri revealed.
“The real question is not how we will meet this surge in demand, but how we will do so without destabilising grids or derailing climate commitments,” he opined.
Renewables alone won’t be enough as AI-driven demand requires round-the-clock reliability, meaning natural gas, coal with carbon abatement, and next-generation nuclear will remain essential, he pointed out.
“But the potential benefits are immense. AI itself will enhance fossil fuel efficiency, reshaping the energy equation where intelligence, not just resources, dictates energy security. The next great energy leap will come from dismantling the idea of centralised energy in the form of AI-driven grids that predict demand before it happens,” the Minister explained.
On the other hand, expanding clean cooking access requires a multi-fuel strategy–scaling traditional LPG, augmenting bio-CNG, accelerating electrification, and channelling investments into areas such as integrating decentralised renewables like wind-powered micro-grids to support electric and induction cooking.
“The challenge is not technology but scaling access equitably. India has achieved 100 per cent clean cooking access through the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), city gas expansion, and solar cooking pilots, proving that policy-driven solutions can transform lives,” Puri noted.