IEW 2025 Concludes with India Driving Energy Transition Through Partnerships and Innovations

The four-day India Energy Week (IEW) 2025 concluded successfully, establishing India's position as a global energy leader.

Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri declared the event a resounding success, exceeding expectations in participant and exhibitor numbers, technical paper submissions, and, most importantly, business transactions.

He highlighted IEW's growth into the world's second-largest energy platform in just three years, emphasising its focus on practical innovation and tangible outcomes, exemplified by cost-effective biofuel conversion kits and the convergence of investors, manufacturers, and consumers in the flex fuel vehicle sector.

A key theme of IEW 2025 was India's commitment to a green energy transition alongside strengthening international partnerships. Puri underscored the growing India-US energy cooperation, particularly in LNG, crucial for India's goal of increasing natural gas consumption to 15 percent of its energy mix.

He also detailed significant reforms in the Exploration and Production (E&P) sector, including the massive Open Acreage Licensing Program (OALP) Round X covering approximately 200,000 sq. kms. These reforms, coupled with proposed amendments to the Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Act 1948 and the development of a new legislative framework, aim to attract investment and boost domestic production. Puri emphasised the importance of expert collaboration and a regulatory framework that fairly compensates stakeholders for resource discovery.

He also highlighted the Rajya Sabha's passage of amendments ensuring policy predictability, particularly regarding windfall tax implementation, promoting transparency in the energy sector.

Addressing the global energy landscape, Puri noted the positive impact of increased oil supply from new Western Hemisphere sources on global markets. He expressed confidence in India's international oil and gas investments and highlighted the remarkable progress of India's biofuel program, citing the current 1,700 crore litre ethanol blending capacity and future potential beyond the 20 percent target. He also reiterated India's commitment to green hydrogen, confirming progress towards the 5MMT annual production target for 2030, and emphasised the development of sustainable aviation fuel.

Petroleum and Natural Gas Secretary Pankaj Jain detailed the substantial business conducted during IEW 2025, encompassing supply arrangements for crude, LNG, and LPG, technology partnerships for digital refinery solutions, and exploration services. He stressed the unprecedented scale of OALP Round X and the need for global expertise to exploit India's hydrocarbon resources. He also discussed the potential use of the Oil Industry Development Fund for deep-water exploration projects.

IEW 2025 also served as a platform to recognise and encourage innovation. The Avinya’25 – Energy Startup Challenge awards, a flagship initiative of the Ministry, recognised startups with pioneering solutions to energy challenges. UrjanovaC Pvt. Ltd. won for its CO₂ capture and conversion technology, followed by Breathe ESG Pvt. Ltd., AgriVijay, Apeiro Energy, and UGreen Technology.

The Ministry also introduced the Vasudha – Oil and Gas Startup Challenge for overseas startups, with Latin Energy Partners Inc. (Paraguay) and Ultrasound Process Consultation LLC (USA) winning and runner-up positions, respectively. A Hackathon among seven IITs focused on CCUS and renewable energy, with IIT (ISM) Dhanbad winning and IIT Guwahati as the runner-up.

Amongst other significant events, an MoU was signed between SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic), MRPL (Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd.), and ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd.). This non-binding agreement, signed on February 12th, 2025, aims to explore strategic energy sector opportunities. The collaboration focuses on several key areas: crude oil and LNG supply, petroleum product sales, trading opportunities, and capacity building through knowledge exchange. This partnership strengthens ONGC's existing presence in Azerbaijan's oil and gas sector, notably in the ACG field and BTC pipeline. The MoU will enable ONGC and MRPL to expand their global energy market footprint and deepen energy security and cooperation ties between India and Azerbaijan.

Furthermore, EESL (Energy Efficiency Services Limited) and DVC (Damodar Valley Corporation) also signed an MoU at India Energy Week 2025 to collaborate on energy efficiency and decarbonisation. EESL will support DVC in implementing various programs, including the Street Lights National Program, energy-efficient building solutions, industrial energy efficiency upgrades, decentralised solar projects, and hybrid thermal solar solutions.

The partnership will also promote e-mobility with charging infrastructure, smart metering, trigeneration projects, and the National Motor Replacement Program. Further collaboration includes energy audits, clean energy projects, carbon finance initiatives, demand flexibility solutions, clean cooking solutions, and battery energy storage. EESL will also provide procurement, project management, and consultancy services, along with CSR initiatives and capacity building. DVC Chairman Suresh Kumar emphasised the partnership's role in achieving decarbonisation goals, while EESL CEO Vishal Kapoor highlighted their commitment to sustainable energy solutions and India's clean energy transition.