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Addressing the India Energy Forum meet by CER AWeek, the company’s chief executive officer Bernard Looney said, “GST has been a very welcome federal initiative to ease trade in India. We believe it would make sense to incorporate gas in that.” At present, petrol, diesel, jet fuel, crude oil and natural gas fall outside the ambit of GST. The ministry of petroleum had been also batting for the inclusion of natural gas under GST. petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan too had appealed to the ministry of finance for the inclusion of natural gas under GST.
The company indicated that it feels a commitment from the part of the government to make it easier to do business in India. Looney also welcomed Prime Minister Modi’s vision of shifting to a gas-based economy and indicated that steps like unifying of pipeline tariff and setting up of first gas exchange are positive signs. India is targeting to increase the share of natural gas in its energy mix from a mere 6 per cent to around 15 per cent in the next few years.
Looney added that coal that was above 50 per cent of the energy mix of India will be going down to 40 per cent soon as the share of renewables and natural gas is set to increase. The company expects the share of renewables and natural gas to increase from around 20 per cent to 70 per cent by 2050, making India a suitable market for its energy transition strategies.
Globally, BP is going through a transition phase focussing on resilient hydrocarbons business, low carbon electricity segment and convenience in mobility. Looney stated that in all three segments India is a vital market for the company. “In resilient hydrocarbons, we have a joint venture with Reliance Industries, in low carbon business too we have marked our presence and convenience in mobility India is going to be the fastest-growing mobility and fuels market for the next 20 years,” he said. Looney says BP will create 80,000 jobs in India by raising fuel retail outlets to 5,500 from 1,500 with Reliance in four to five years.
Echoing Looney, Total CEO Patrick Pouyanné too added that India is one of the largest markets in the world for energy. He said that India has a huge potential with a dynamic young population and the company is optimistic about its liquefied natural gas market too. Pouyanné said that India’s LNG market is set to grow at 5 per cent year in the coming years. He added that in an intent to grow in the Indian market have already taken a stake in Adani Gas and the company is well placed in compressed natural gas, LNG and renewables segments in the country.