VISAKHAPATNAM: Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu called for increasing indigenous production of crude oil through strong research efforts to ensure energy security. He was the chief guest for the first convocation of Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy that was conducted in Visakhapatnam on Friday.
Delivering the convocation address, Venkaiah Naidu said that India is the world’s third largest consumer of crude oil, but is still dependent on imports for more than 80 per cent of its needs. “The need of the hour is to increase production, not only to save foreign exchange but also to ensure energy security. The policy reforms such as the hydrocarbon exploration licensing policy are aimed at increasing exploration in new sedimentary basins,” said Naidu.
Explaining the impact of population and industrialisation on increased energy demand, Venkaiah Naidu said that India’s primary energy demand is expected to grow at an average rate of more than 3% till 2045 as compared to less than 1% growth for the rest of the world.
“IIPE and other energy institutes can bridge the supply gap of skilled manpower for the petroleum sector and build stronger industry-institute linkages with the prominent market players. The PhD students can be encouraged to undertake research on problems faced by the industry, and thus bring in a multi-disciplinary approach into academic research,” said Naidu.
The Vice-President expressed confidence that IIPE will show the way forward by becoming an exemplar in the domain of energy research.
