New Delhi: India needs an investment of USD100 billion a year to meet its growing energy needs, a task which requires right pricing and legal framework, the International Energy Agency said on Apri 13. "India is the third largest energy consumer in the world after China and US. Its energy use will continue to increase," said IEA chief economist Fatih Birol at a workshop on India Energy Outlook here.
To meet the energy needs, India needs "USD 100 billion investment each year," said Birol, adding that mobilising the investment requires to keep pace with rising demand. Three-fourth of this investment would need to go into power sector - new generation capacity as well as transmission lines and distribution network, and the rest into oil and gas fields, refineries and gas infrastructure,said Birol.
Three important factor that are needed to support India's growth prospects are "investment, investment and investment", said Birol. Foreign and private investors, he added, were ready to come and invest "but for that, conditions need to be right. Right pricing signals and right legal framework". "Prices need to be high enough to attract investment while at the same time affordable to the consumers," he said adding that recent moves like deregulation of diesel pricing and raising of natural gas rates were "in right direction". "What matters to India does matter to global markets," said Fatih Birol.
A quarter of Indian population is without electricity and there are concerns over air quality and other environmental indicators, Birol said. "Developments in India will have far-reaching consequence for regional and global energy markets," he said. "," he added.The chief economist of the Paris-based agency which advised 29 developed nations, said global oil prices are likely to continue to remain low in near future because of adequate supplies. Middle East, despite geopolitical issues, will remain the most important oil supplier to the world and a critical source for India, said Birol. India imports 77 per cent of its crude oil needs
