M Venkaiah Naidu asks for increased research and development activities to secure national energy security
To maintain energy security, Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu recommended enhancing indigenous crude oil production through significant research initiatives. He was the chief guest at the Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy maiden convocation, which was held in Visakhapatnam on Friday.
Venkaiah Naidu, who delivered the convocation address, noted that while India is the world’s third largest crude oil user, it still imports more than 80% of its needs. “Increasing production is urgently needed, not only to conserve foreign cash, but also to assure energy security.” “Policy reforms such as the hydrocarbon exploration licensing policy aim to increase exploration in new sedimentary basins,” Naidu said.
Venkaiah Naidu, speaking on the influence of population and industrialisation on growing energy demand, claimed that India’s primary energy demand is predicted to grow at a rate of more than 3% per year until 2045, compared to less than 1% for the rest of the world.
IIPE and other energy institutes can help close the skilled labour gap in the petroleum industry and strengthen industry-institute ties with major market players. PhD students might be encouraged to conduct research on corporate problems, bringing a multi-disciplinary perspective to academic research, according to Naidu.
The Vice-President expressed hope that IIPE will pave the way forward in the field of energy research by serving as an example.
