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INDIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ADDRESSED THE FUTURE OF OIL AND GAS ECONOMY IN BENGAL
The theme was “Transforming Bengal into a Gas Based Economy”
India, 12th Dec, 2021: The Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) one of the leading national chambers of India, organized India Oil & Gas Summit 2021 at the ICC auditorium with the aim to transform Bengal into a Gas based economy.
The summit was conducted keeping in mind India’s vision of raising the share of gas and energy mix from 6% to 15% by 2030. It is expected that increasing natural gas in the power sector will also scale up renewable energy to 450 GW by 2030. To understand the opportunities that lie in this sector, it is critical to analyse the current scenario of fuel consumption. The coal demand per capita has increased from 25% to 1990 to 50% to 2019 in world average. There has been a significant raise in CO2 emission leading to rising global temperature. It is hence important to reduce this harmful by increasing use of natural gas, biogas and electrolytic hydrogen potions of fuel gas.
Speaking on this occasion, Mr. Asim Prasad, Zonal Chief General Manager & OIC, GAIL (India) Limited (Kolkata Zonal Office) said, “Bengal has shown progressive vision for a sustainable future, manifesting support to the three pillars of sustainability, the economy, environment and society. The gas based economy is going to be the launch pad to bridge the gap between polluting fossil fuels like Coal & Oil and renewables, the ultimate goal for achieving ‘Net Zero’. He further added that the dimensions which are vital to transform Bengal into a gas based economy are Natural Gas Access & investment in building pipeline infrastructure, natural gas availability, natural gas appetite, affordability, natural gas market perception & benefits, statutory permission ROU, stakeholders engagement etc. A collective effort by all decision makers and influential stakeholders will be vital for this transformation.”
Speaking on this summit, Mr. AC Mishra, Executive VP and Plant Head, MCPI Pvt. Ltd. said, “We are thankful to Indian Chamber of Commerce for this session as this is an important concern and we all are unitedly looking at reducing the carbon footprints. In India especially in Bengal there is need of proper supply and infrastructure. As GDP and per capita income is increasing the demand for gas is also is increasing. In order to overcome this problem we need a proper infrastructure for natural gas. The easiest solution is city gas distribution which most of the oil companies are following. As per GAIL the pipeline network is increasing, another 14,000 is added. ICC needs to influence the policymakers to look at increasing the natural gas availability.
Speaking on the summit, Mr. Sanjoy Ghosh, GM (CGD), HPCL said, “We believe ICC can play an important catalyst role for faster implementation of the CGD project of HPCL. A government intervention is needed to create natural gas environment in the state. All the stakeholders including government should jointly focus on this. Our transport minister is extremely proactive, and he is taking measures to convert commercial vehicles to CNG vehicles. Another important aspect is domestic pipeline to be introduced as it is safer and cheaper than LPG.”
Mr. Biman Banerjee, Senior Manager, Branded Sales, Mallcom India Limited addressed on the safety issues of Oil & Gas industry – “As the country is moving towards a gas-based economy, the demand of safety equipment for this sector is seeing an equal surge. The global PPE industry is expected to grow by US 7.7 bn$ within 2020-2025 with CAGR growth of 6.7%. Significantly, Oil & Petroleum sector is showing the highest CAGR Growth of 9.2% among this total growth. Mallcom India Ltd is committed to mitigate all possible hazards caused by working in the Oil & Gas sector and aims to take the industry forward with its entire range of head-to-toe PPE coveralls and incorporation of smart PPE in the system.”, he said.
