Roscongress has published a material on Russian-Indian cooperation in the field of energy

According to the Fund's experts, the potential of joint projects of Russian and Indian companies in the energy sector is difficult to overestimate in the current conditions of restrictions and sanctions. Russian companies can seriously benefit by expanding their presence in the world's fastest growing Indian energy consumption market.

In the oil and gas spheres, this is not only direct supplies of raw materials, but also participation in the creation of gas transportation infrastructure and facilities for their processing. According to the Ministry of Commerce of India, in January – November 2022, the country increased purchases of Russian oil by 16 times compared to the same period in 2021. And by the end of 2022, Russia became the largest supplier of oil to India, pushing Iraq and Saudi Arabia. In January 2023, the upward trend continued.

Russian companies can play a significant role not only in the supply of crude oil and finished petroleum products, but also equipment for Indian refineries, moving up the value chain. Or even directly enter into the capital of Indian energy companies, benefiting from the future growth of this sector.

Now only 36% percent of Indian citizens live in cities. In recent years, with the growth of the population, there has been a serious tendency to increase this share, which entails an increase in electricity consumption. However, the quality of its transmission and large losses in the networks are a big obstacle to the development of the electric power industry in the country. Plans to modernize India's power grids with an investment volume of $106 billion by 2030 may open up a new sales direction for Russian companies. The power generation capacity in the next five years should increase almost one and a half times from the current 410 to 575 GW. In the meantime, the main source of "household" energy in all regions of India is gas.

According to the gasification program in force in the country, the Government of India plans to increase the length of the gas distribution network by one and a half times by 2030 and bring it from the current 21102 to 33107 km. Gas consumption in the country is also expected to grow by 6 times by 2030, and the share in the energy balance will increase from the current 6 to 15%.

In total, the growth rate of energy demand in India will be the highest in the world in the next two decades. The country will account for about 28% of global energy consumption growth over this period. Russian companies have good prospects for creating joint projects: the necessary technological expertise, the possibility of increasing and redistributing the supply of raw materials, high-tech solutions in the field of nuclear energy. Taking into account the importance of deepening bilateral cooperation, the Russian-Indian Business Forum "Cooperation for Development and Growth" will be held in Delhi on March 28-29, 2023. Its participants will discuss further steps to strengthen the Russian-Indian partnership.

The full text of the analytical review is published on the website of the Roscongress Foundation and in the Zen Channel of the Roscongress Foundation.