Minister calls for innovation and R&D

The Indian public and private sector oil and gas companies has been told to add at least 200 million tonnes of refining capacity in the next two decades to maintain India’s leadership position as the hub of Asian refining and product export.

Integrated refinery–petrochemical complexes should be the future for deriving maximum benefits for the industry, said Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

He expressed strong optimism about the Indian Refining industry going from strength to strength and achieving global excellence standards in the years to come, despite new and disruptive technologies on the horizon.

Underlining the critical importance of innovation and research & development, Pradhan was of the view that these will be vital to achieve sustainable growth and providing clean, affordable energy to many people.

The Minister inaugurated the 22nd Refinery Technology & Petrochemicals Meet (RPTM) at Bhubaneswar on 13 Jan 2018. The theme of the Meet is “Emerging Trends in Downstream Hydrocarbon Sector”.

The meet will give impetus to Odisha state being developed as the Energy Gateway to Eastern India that has been described as ‘Purvoday – a Prosperous East for a New India’.

Pradhan released the RPTM Compendium and “Report on Enhancing Refining Capacity by 2040”, giving a direction to the oil and gas industry to move forward.

Delivering the key note address, K. D. Tripathi, Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, said the Indian petrochemicals sector was poised for a quantum jump in keeping with the rapid economic growth of the country and that there existed tremendous opportunities for India to emerge as the demand centre of energy.

Low carbon, sustainable and affordable energy will be the demand for the future, he added. fii-news.com