India needs Rs 9 lakh crore investment for energy demand by 2040: IEA

Over the next 25 years, 315 million people, will be added to India's urban population, raising demand for energy

India needs more than Rs 9 lakh crore ($ 140 billion) in energy investments per year by 2040 as it is set to contribute more than any other country to the rise in global energy demand, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said.

Of this, it needs around Rs 7 lakh crore ($ 110 billion) per year in energy supply - 75 % of which is required to meet India's burgeoning need for electricity - and a further Rs 2 lakh crore ($ 30 billion) per year to improve energy efficiency, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said, releasing IEA's 'India Energy Outlook 2015'.

"India's energy transformation requires three things: investment, investment and investment," he said. "A lot is being done already to overhaul the energy regulatory system and get the incentives in place. This is vital, as India will need to call upon a wider range of investors and sources of finance than it has in the past."

He said that over the next 25 years, 315 million people, almost the population of the United States today, will be added to India's urban population, raising demand for energy.

"India is set to contribute more than any other country to the rise in global energy demand over the next 25 years, underlining its ever-great influence in Asia and on the world stage; even so, its energy demand per capita in 2040 would still be 40 % below the world average," he said.

By 2040, India will become the largest source of worldwide coal demand growth, most of which is met by expanded domestic production. Oil demand also increase more than in any other country, approaching 10 million barrels per day by 2040, but in this case is met by increased imports, particularly from the Middle East, that push India's oil import dependence above 90 %.