Dharmendra Pradhan addresses FIPI summit, exhorts oil and gas industry to support innovation

Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Steel Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday addressed FIPI (Federation of Indian Petroleum Industry)'s annual summit and awards ceremony in Delhi and urged the oil and gas industry to support innovation by young professionals.

"Technology, innovations are the order of the day. I am of the firm belief that youngsters can drive innovation. The industry must work on creating a framework to support young employees on driving innovation and creating new business models", he said while talking about innovations.

The event saw participation from oil and gas industry leaders and senior officials of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

During his address, Pradhan complemented FIPI for completing three years and congratulated the award winners.

He also outlined India's aspirational population as a large market which is going to be the epicentre of global growth.

Speaking about Government's reforms efforts, Pradhan said, "Government is working on the paradigm of continuous reform. Recent reductions in Corporate Tax, India's huge jump in World Bank's Ease of Doing Business rankings are cases in point."

Speaking about India's energy demand, he said, "Indian appetite for energy is growing. I appeal to the industry to work on innovative energy delivery in a sustainable way."

"Energy sector has the potential to improve the lives of people. We must work on making energy more affordable and accessible. Energy sector must act as a catalyst of social change", he added.

He also urged the industry to leverage technology and said, "We must leverage technology to create new models of business and governance. In form of Direct Benefits Transfer, we have created the largest model in the world in digital governance."

The Federation of Indian Petroleum Industry (FIPI) is an apex Society of entities in the hydrocarbon sector and acts as an industry interface with Government and regulatory authorities.