India set to become world’s third largest energy user

Economic growth will drive India into becoming a massive user of all kinds of energy.

Indian Minister of Power Sushilkumar Shinde said India is expected to become the world's third-largest energy consumer by 2020 after the USA and China. He also said India has a policy environment and a regulatory framework supportive for growing sustainable energy.

The fast-growing Indian economy is struggling against persistent and acute power shortages. Estimates show that to achieve an economic growth of 9%, India has to increase its energy supplies by 6.5% a year.

Shinde said India has a two-pronged strategy for meeting this surge in energy demand: augment domestic supply sources, including renewable energy, and focus on demand-side management and energy efficiency measures.

India hopes to reduce its inordinate dependence on coal by upgrading capacities for building power plants with super critical and ultra-super critical technologies. International firms such as Mitsubishi, Toshiba, Alstom and Ansaldo are already partnering with Indian manufacturers to set- up super critical manufacturing facilities in India.