Visakhapatnam, Jan 21 :Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu Today  called for increasing indigenous production of crude oil through strong R&D efforts to ensure energy security of the country.

Addressing the First Convocation ceremony of the Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy (IIPE) here, Naidu stated that India is the world’s third largest consumer of crude oil and yet import-dependent for more than 80 percent of its needs.

The importance of increasing production, not only to save foreign exchange but also to ensure energy security, he underlined.

Calling for ‘Atma Nirbharta’ in the country’s energy mix, he suggested focussing more on increasing domestic exploration of petroleum, harnessing the full potential of renewable sources and aiming for excellence and innovation in the energy industry.

He noted various policy reforms of the government such as the Hydrocarbon Exploration Licensing Policy (HELP) aimed at increasing exploration in new sedimentary basins.

Noting the impact of population and industrialisation on increased energy demand, Naidu said ‘India’s primary energy demand is expected to grow at an average rate of more than three percent till 2045 as compared to less than one percent growth for the rest of the world.

’With increasing population, urbanization and industrialization, the use of petroleum products is only expected to increase, he said it is important to focus on increasing indigenous crude oil production, reducing imports to ensure energy security and save precious foreign exchange.

In this regard, Naidu called upon IIPE and other energy institutes to bridge the supply gap of skilled manpower for the petroleum sector and build stronger industry-institute linkages with the prominent market players.

He also suggested encouraging Ph.D. students to undertake research on problems faced by the industry and thus ‘bring a multi-disciplinary approach into academic research, which is the aim of National Education Policy 2020.’

Observing that India is blessed with ample renewable sources such as solar, wind and tidal power, the Vice President suggested fully tapping the potential of these sources of energy as part of the efforts to reduce the use of fossil fuels.

To achieve this, he suggested institutes specialising in energy should also seek to diversify their portfolio and take up projects which have a component of renewable energy research.

“Even a tiny improvement in the efficiency of harnessing green sources will deliver great benefits to our economy and ecology”, he added.(UNI)