Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri, said here on Tuesday that oil and gas will continue to play an important role in the energy sector, even as renewable energy becomes the dominant source.

“Even when renewables become the dominant energy sources, oil and gas will continue to play a pivotal role – not just in power generation but in stabilising grids, industrial hydrogen, and energy storage innovations,” he said.

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The Minister highlighted that hydrocarbons will remain essential not just for power generation but also for stabilizing grids, industrial hydrogen production, and energy storage innovations. He was speaking at the inauguration of India Energy Week 2025.

He pointed out that the energy transition is not about completely eliminating fossil fuels but about using them strategically while scaling up renewable energy sources to reduce emissions.”For too long, we have framed energy transition as a linear journey – from fossil fuels to renewables, from past to future, from problem to solution,” he said.

The Minister also highlighted that Artificial Intelligence (AI) and clean cooking are emerging as major drivers of energy demand in the future.“AI is becoming one of the largest energy consumers globally, with data centers expected to see an 18-20 per cent annual increase in power demand by 2030,” he said.

Adding that India’s AI-driven digital economy, projected to reach USD 400 billion by 2030, presents both challenges and opportunities, Puri noted that the key issue is not just meeting this growing demand but doing so in a way that does not destabilize power grids or hinder climate commitments.

He explained that renewable energy alone would not be sufficient to meet AI-driven demand. Instead, a combination of natural gas, coal with carbon abatement, and next-generation nuclear energy will be required to ensure round-the-clock power reliability.

The Petroleum Minister also talked about the Donald Trump’s stance on energy sector. He said the focus of Donald Trump’s new administration on energy and its stance that “more energy should come on the market while the prices should go down”, is music to “my ears”.

“For a country like India, which is both a consumer and a producer of oil, prices going down is good news. Even though our marketing companies get upset when the prices go down as it becomes too difficult for them to maintain a healthy balance sheet. However, as a Minister, I am very happy with the oil price coming down,” he said.

Earlier, the Oil Minister had said that India is open to energy imports from all sources at the lowest rates and domestic oil marketing firms are looking for more gas which is expected to cost less in 2026.

The Minister had allayed fears of impact on energy supplies to India from Russia after US sanctions. “Today we have a situation that we have (increased) from 27 suppliers to 39 suppliers. We added Argentina among others. We are open to import from all sources.”