India's electrification rate has accelerated in recent years: IEA

The WEO-2017 series includes a specific focus on the issue of energy access, including a detailed update on the scale of today's problem.

New Delhi, Dec 7: A senior official of the International Energy Agency (IEA) said India is emerging as a "major driving force" in global energy trends, with all modern fuels and technologies playing a part.

The World Energy Outlook Report, 2017, launched by the IEA, was relaunched in association with Delhi-based think tank The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).

Highlighting the key findings, Tim Gould, Head of Division, World Energy Outlook, IEA, said, "Our analysis in the World Energy Outlook confirms that India is emerging as a major driving force in global energy trends, with all modern fuels and technologies playing a part."

The IEA attaches great importance to close ties with India and we were very pleased to welcome India into the IEA family earlier this year after it joined as an association member. With India, the IEA family now accounts for over 70 per cent of the world's total energy consumption, compared to less than 40 per cent just two years ago," Gould was quoted as saying in a statement by the TERI.

"Showing remarkable growth, half a billion people have gained access to electricity in India since 2000, almost doubling the country's electrification rate. The pace has accelerated in the recent years, with an additional 40 million people gaining access every year since 2011," he said.

Several experts, including P C Mathani, a scientist in the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, and Navroz K Dubash, Senior Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, spoke at a panel discussion held during the event. P K Pujari, former secretary in the Ministry of Power, who chaired the discussion, said, "The global energy scenario is highly dynamic and changing rapidly, with new cost- effective technologies."

"These provide an option for addressing the issues of access to energy by millions in a sustainable way. What is required is appropriate and responsive policy-framework by the government concerned," he said.

The WEO-2017 series includes a specific focus on the issue of energy access, including a detailed update on the scale of today's problem, the positive developments in many countries –- notably India -– and the prospects for achieving universal access to modern energy by 2030.

"This ground-breaking analysis explores how policies, cheaper technologies and innovative business models are brightening the outlook for access to electricity, while reliance on polluting fuels for cooking remains high," the TERI's statement said.

The IEA is an autonomous agency, which seeks to promote energy security among its member countries through collective response to physical disruptions in oil supply, and to provide authoritative research and analysis on ways to ensure reliable, affordable and clean energy for its 29 member countries and beyond, it said.

PTI