It has planned to be energy independent by 2030. It hopes to discover it shale gas reserves and is committed to provide a stable and enabling environment for exploration of new sources of energy. It has invited partnerships for joint ventures in gas pipeline development, LNG terminals, petrochemicals, gas trading hubs and city gas distribution.

Inaugurating the 8th Asia Gas Partnership Summit here on Tuesday organised jointly by the apex Indian industry body, FICCI and Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL), the Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh said : 'We too are hopeful that we will be fortunate in discovering shale gas reserves in our country.'

Dwelling upon the shale gas revolution in the world, he said that it 'has been made possible primarily by two factors - technology and market based pricing. This is a combination that is essential to provide rapidly growing economies like ours with energy solutions commensurate with our needs.'

Dedicating the Dhabol-Bengaluru Gaspipeline to the nation, Dr Singh referred to the Asian gas market and said : 'Despite having a huge demand for natural gas, countries like India are not able to secure adequate volumes owing to differences in price expectations between buyers and sellers.' He urged the conference to address this issue.

The theme of the Conference is 'Asian Gas Market : Challenges & Opportunities in the Changing Paradigm'.

The Prime Minister termed natural gas as an efficient fuel for power generation and a cleaner alternative for vehicles.
Asia has been the driver of the global LNG demand. It accounts now for around 70% of all LNG traded globally. It is projected that Asia will continue to occupy the same share in global LNG demand which is likely to grow to 2 to 3 times the current levels by the year 2020.

India needs to increase its energy supply by 3 to 4 times within next two decades. It currently ranks as the world’s seventh largest energy producer, accounting for just about 2.5% of the world’s total annual energy production, while it is the 4th largest energy consumer. With oil and gas constituting around 41% of India’s primary energy consumption, India is expected to be the 3rd largest energy consumer by the year 2020.

Dr Singh said : 'I take this opportunity to assure investors of our Government’s commitment to providing a stable and enabling policy environment for exploration of new sources of energy. India is also progressively pursuing other options to achieve energy security. One of these is the acquisition of energy assets in other countries.'

'There are exciting opportunities in India for partnerships for joint investments in areas like gas pipeline development, LNG terminals, Petrochemicals, gas trading hubs and city gas distribution. I also hope that the participants in this conference will return with better insights about these opportunities in India as well as in other emerging markets of Asia,' he said.

The Indian Minister for Petrolem and Natural Gas, Veerappa Moily said :'the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India Gas Pipeline will become a reality by 2017-18.'

He also informed that India will be energy independent by 2030.

The CMD of Indian public sector, GAIL, BC Tripathi urged for an Asian Gas Price Index and for setting up of an Asian Gas Grid.