VISAKHAPATNAM: Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu has called for increasing the indigenous production of crude oil through strong R&D efforts to ensure the energy security of the country.
Addressing at the first convocation ceremony of the Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy (IIPE) in Visakhapatnam on Friday, he suggested ‘atmanirbharta’ in the country’s energy mix, and more focus on increasing the domestic exploration of petroleum, harnessing the full potential of renewable sources and aiming for excellence and innovation in the energy industry.
Noting the impact of population and industrialisation on increased energy demand, he said, “India’s primary energy demand is expected to grow at an average rate of more than 3 per cent till 2045 as compared to less than 1 per cent growth estimated for the rest of the world.”
“With increasing population, urbanisation and industrialisation, the use of petroleum products is only expected to increase. It is, therefore, important to focus on increasing indigenous crude oil production and reducing imports to ensure energy security and save precious foreign exchange,” Venkaiah Naidu observed.
He called upon IIPE and other energy institutes to bridge the supply gap of skilled manpower in the petroleum sector and build stronger industry-institute linkages with the prominent market players.
He was also for encouraging Ph.D. students to undertake research on problems faced by the industry and thus bringing a multi-disciplinary approach into academic research, which is the aim of National Education Policy 2020.’
Observing that India is blessed with ample renewable sources such as solar, wind and tidal power, the Vice-President suggested fully tapping the potential of these sources as part of the effort to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
To achieve this, he suggested the institutes specialising in energy should seek to diversify their portfolio and take up projects that have a component of renewable energy research. “Even a tiny improvement in the efficiency of harnessing green sources will deliver great benefits of scale to our economy and ecology”, he noted.