Odisha To Host India’s Energy COP: Global Leaders To Gather In Puri For GELS 2025
Principal secretary (energy) Vishal Kumar Dev, who is leading the Summit preparations, noted that Odisha is fully geared up to host this landmark event. He said the next decade of India’s energy sector will depend on strengthening institutions, coordination, and state-level collaboration
Bhubaneswar: Odisha is set to host one of India’s most significant energy gatherings as the Global Energy Leaders’ Summit (GELS) 2025 convenes in Puri from December 5 to 7. Positioned as “a COP for India’s energy sector,” the Summit will bring together policymakers, international experts, and industry leaders to deliberate on the country’s long-term energy roadmap.
In a strong opening message, Deputy Chief Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo on Thursday underscored Odisha’s ambition to anchor national discussions on clean and secure energy. He said the state was “proud to host a summit that brings leading voices together to support India’s journey to secure, sustainable, and future-ready energy systems.” Highlighting the forum’s central purpose, he said GELS 2025 would enable states to exchange best practices, adopt innovation-driven energy strategies, and strengthen both cooperative and competitive federalism. His remarks placed Odisha at the forefront of shaping policy conversations amid a rapidly evolving global energy environment.
The summit’s theme, “Powering India: Sufficiency, Balance, Innovation”, reflects the country’s core priorities—ensuring affordable and adequate power, aligning economic activity with ecological needs, and advancing technological and policy innovation. Designed on the lines of global Conference of Parties (COP) summits, GELS 2025 aims to create a structured platform for meaningful engagement among the Union Government, nearly 15 States, and over 30 national and international energy experts.
Principal secretary (energy) Vishal Kumar Dev, who is leading the Summit preparations, noted that Odisha is fully geared up to host this landmark event. He said the next decade of India’s energy sector will depend on strengthening institutions, coordination, and state-level collaboration. Hosting GELS 2025, he added, is a continuation of Odisha’s legacy as the first Indian state to undertake power sector reforms in the 1990s.
GELS 2025 will feature an eminent lineup of global and national speakers, including Lena Backer of the India–EU Trade Council; Gauri Singh, Deputy Director-General of IRENA; Pierre Noël of the Tony Blair Institute; Tata Power CEO Praveer Sinha; and senior experts from IIT Kanpur, NTU Singapore, IEEFA, and ORF. NITI Aayog CEO B.V.R. Subrahmanyam will address the closing plenary on December 7.
Union energy minister Pralhad Joshi, MoS Shripad Naik, Chief Ministers from Himachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, and several state power ministers and secretaries will participate, reflecting strong nationwide support.
The Summit will be inaugurated on Saturday, December 6, by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi in the presence of Deputy Chief Ministers Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo and Pravati Parida. Delegates will also experience Odisha’s cultural richness with a visit to the Konark Festival.
Organised with the Tony Blair Institute and IIT Kanpur, GELS 2025 aims to create a sustained mechanism for dialogue, aligned with India’s Net Zero 2070 vision, and strengthen the nation’s leadership in the global clean-energy transition.