World
India
Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri, engaged in a spirited debate with BBC HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur on India’s energy transition and climate commitments. The conversation covered India’s remarkable progress under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, the country’s sustainability efforts, and the evolving energy sector.
Reflecting on his past appearance on HARDtalk in 2002 as India’s Deputy High Commissioner to the UK, Puri noted how the program was once renowned for its rigorous research. Two decades later, he returned to defend India’s energy strategy and its path to becoming a developed nation, or #ViksitBharat.
India’s Commitment to Sustainable Energy
Sackur pressed Puri on how India plans to balance its rapid economic growth with its commitments to decarbonization, questioning whether the country’s reliance on fossil fuels undermines its climate pledges.
“India is the one country I am aware of that has made its Paris commitments,” Puri stated emphatically. “India is the one country where the sustainability transition is better than elsewhere. From 2014 to today, we’ve got 20% biofuel blending, a massive green hydrogen program, and on all fronts, the decarbonization debate is succeeding.”
I had first appeared on BBC HARDtalk in 2002 as India’s Dy High Commissioner to the UK for a pointed discussion on cross border terrorism with Tim Sebastian in what was then regarded as a rigorously researched program.
More than two decades later, I had an interesting… pic.twitter.com/YD3ACDm0dn— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) February 7, 2025
Hardeep Singh Puri Confronting the Coal Dependency Argument
Sackur challenged Puri on India’s continued reliance on coal, pointing out that it still accounts for 75% of the nation’s power generation and that new coal-fired power plants are being constructed.
Puri countered by breaking down the energy consumption figures, clarifying that power for electricity accounts for only 17% of India’s overall energy use. He argued that the transition towards green energy is happening across multiple sectors, including refineries.
“There is a transition taking place which your briefing notes don’t capture,” Puri remarked, directly addressing Sackur. “Now either you accept what I’m telling you as the Energy Minister—I should actually be called the Energy Transition Minister—our biofuel planning is on an increasing demand. 20% of that, it’s a revolutionary scale change. 90 new flex fuel vehicles were on display which are coming to the market in the next three months. We’ve got E100 pure ethanol being sold in 400 outlets.”
Hardeep Singh Puri Responds to Critics
Sackur then cited Indian energy expert Nandini Das from Climate Analytics, who argued that India maintains a “very deep focus on coal.”
Puri dismissed this criticism, urging the audience to examine India’s progress in biofuels and green hydrogen. He highlighted the groundbreaking tender floated by the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), emphasizing that such a move is unprecedented globally.
“The first day I had a meeting with the then Energy Secretary of the United States, Jennifer Greenhorn, she said the minute we can get to one for one for one—that is, one kilo of green hydrogen for one dollar in ten years—we support it,” Puri explained. “We buy 150 billion dollars of energy from outside. Today, the cost of green hydrogen has come down to three and a half to four dollars. The minute we bring it down to two and a half, fossil fuel is over.”
He further criticized what he termed a “fossilized mindset” that doubts India’s growth ambitions. “They said we will never become a five trillion-dollar economy,” he pointed out, reinforcing India’s ability to defy expectations and achieve its development goals.
India’s Path to #ViksitBharat
Throughout the interview, Puri remained firm in asserting India’s energy transition strategy. He maintained that India is on track to achieve its climate goals while ensuring economic growth and energy security.
As the discussion wrapped up, Puri’s confident rebuttals left no doubt about India’s commitment to balancing energy expansion with sustainability. His assertion that the world must recognize the scale and speed of India’s energy transformation set the tone for a nation determined to achieve #ViksitBharat.
VIDEO:
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri’s apt reply to BBC Reporter question on India’s fuel demand.
Hardeep Singh Puri is truly visionary pic.twitter.com/ckYVIU0m7J
— Times Algebra (@TimesAlgebraIND) February 7, 2025
Also Read: How Much Is Gautam Adani Spending On His Son Jeet Adani’s Wedding?
