PM Modi Calls for India’s $500 Bn Energy Investment, Pushes for World’s Top Refining Hub

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 27 invited global investors to participate in India's growing energy sector, which offers a $500bn investment opportunity and stressed that the country will soon become the world's largest refining hub.

Addressing the India Energy Week 2026, he urged investors to invest in sectors like refining, LNG value chain infrastructure, city gas distribution and oil & gas exploration.

The Prime Minister said the nation is targeting $100bn investments in the oil and gas sector by 2030 and the oil refining capacity will be expanded from 260 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) to 300 MTPA.

PTI reported quoting the Prime Minister, "Our energy sector is at the heart of our aspirations. It offers investment opportunities worth $500bn. Therefore, my appeal is, make in India, innovate in India, scale with India, invest in India." He highlighted that India is among the top five exporters in the energy sector.

“If I talk about the energy sector, there are immense investment opportunities across the energy value chain. Take the exploration sector, for example, India has opened it considerably," he asserted.

You are also aware of our deep-sea exploration efforts, the 'Samudra Manthan' project, he noted.

"We are trying to increase investments in our oil and gas sector to $100bn by the end of this decade. Our goal is also to expand the scope of exploration to one million square kilometres. With this vision, more than 170 blocks have already been awarded here," he added.

He further stated that the Andaman and Nicobar basin is also becoming our next hydrocarbon hope. He discussed the implementation of numerous reforms in the exploration sector and noted that the no-go areas have been significantly reduced.

"Whatever suggestions were made during the last edition of IEW, we have made changes to our rules. If you invest in the exploration sector, the profitability of your company is bound to increase," he said.

Another characteristic of India makes investment in the energy sector highly profitable. It has a very large refining capacity. The nation is the second largest in the world in terms of refining capacity, he noted.

"Soon we will be number one. Today, India's refining capacity is approximately 260 million tonnes per annum (MTPA). There is a continuous effort to increase this to over 300 MTPA. This is a huge advantage for investors," he said.

Surging Energy Demand

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), India is expected to account for the largest driver of energy demand growth through 2035. The report underscored that India will add about 2mn barrels per day (mb/d) to global oil demand during this period.

While LNG consumption is predicted to more than double due to urbanisation, industrial growth and cleaner fuel policies, the IEA predicts that India's oil demand will increase steadily through 2030.

(With inputs from PTI.)