At the closing ceremony of the India Energy Week 2024 in Goa on February 9, the immensely successful organisation of the event was praised by Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Housing and Urban Affairs.
He observed that IEW 2024 had built on the inaugural session of 2023, with 30 per cent more exhibitors showcasing their products and services in an area spanning over 18,000 square metres.
The minister also announced that IEW 2025 would be held between February 11 and 14 at Yashobhoomi (India International Convention and Expo Centre), India’s largest convention and exhibition centre, located in Dwarka, New Delhi. IEW 2026 will come back to Goa and will be held at IPSHEM-ONGC Training Institute, located in the southern part of the state.
Puri added that the success of the four-day event was exemplified by the strong and robust participation by CEOs and board members, representing not only the largest oil and gas companies but also biofuel and renewable technology companies.
“It reflects that IEW has come to acquire a prominent place amongst available platforms where if you go and spend four days, you can meet a wide cross-section of people, those whom you may otherwise take much longer to interact with, if they are placed in different global geographies,” the minister said.
He also said that the exhibitions at IEW 2024 displayed technological innovations that impressed him deeply. “Apart from country-specific exhibition stalls, and those belonging to bigger companies, even individual entrepreneurs showcased great effort in achieving technological innovation of the highest quality,” the minister observed.
The Union minister highlighted that while India would account for 25 per cent of incremental global oil demand over the next two decades, the growth would not be restricted to just exploration and production activities but would also extend to biofuels.
We couldn’t get more than 1.5 per cent biofuel blending up to 2014. Today, we’ve got 12 per cent blending in the entire country, and we’re going to take it to 20 per cent. So I think that the best is yet to come.
Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas
Puri said that ethanol, biofuels, compressed biogas, and green hydrogen were poised to see huge growth in India. “I think the world is just beginning to see that green hydrogen may not be as distant a story as was initially thought. And at least, the Indian estimates of 5 million metric tonnes per annum by 2030 is very much an underestimation,” he added.
Speaking alongside the Union minister, Pankaj Jain, Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, remarked that India had changed from being just one of the markets of the world for global energy companies to a country where global entities had established back offices, employing thousands of experts and establishing manufacturing facilities.
Start-up Awards
The minister and secretary awarded winners of the Energy Startup Challenge at the closing ceremony of IEW 2024.
The first prize went to Iron Technologies, while Vasitara Private Limited bagged the runner-up trophy. The third place was awarded to Aloe Ecell.
The two honourable mentions went to Biofuels Junction and VDT Pipeline Integrity Solutions.
