A big step forward for India, the IEA and global energy

This week, the International Energy Agency took a major step towards becoming a truly global energy organisation as we shifted our relationship with India, one of the world’s economic powerhouses, to a new level.

On Wednesday, the Government of India and the IEA signed a Framework for Strategic Partnership, a huge milestone that signals commitment from both sides to strengthen the relationship and provide a pathway for India’s eventual full membership of the IEA. 

It is hard to understate India’s importance for global energy trends. Led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and his Ministers, the country has made enormous progress in many key areas – improving its energy security, expanding its citizens’ access to energy, increasing the deployment of renewable energy, and driving innovation in clean energy technologies. Since this is all taking place in a nation of 1.4 billion people, the scale of the measures involved is stunning. They serve as an inspiration for countries around the world that want to achieve similar progress.

India and the IEA benefit from a longstanding relationship built on strong cooperation across a broad range of issues. India formally joined the IEA Family in 2017 as we opened our doors to major emerging economies through a process known as Association. Since then, the relationship has gone from strength to strength. We are now collaborating across the full spectrum of the energy sector, from energy security to clean energy transitions. This includes projects on the expansion of renewables, energy efficiency, the energy-environment nexus, oil stocks and emergency preparedness, data and statistics, investment and innovation.

Both the IEA and India benefit from this strong relationship. With our “all fuels, all technologies” approach, the IEA has been supporting India on a number of critical energy topics. And we greatly value this partnership, given India’s importance in global energy markets and the remarkable insights its experiences provide for other countries.

This is particularly important today in the context of global efforts to achieve a sustainable recovery from the economic crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic. As countries work together to accelerate the shift to clean energy, it is essential that India, the world’s third largest energy consumer, is involved. The Strategic Partnership we are developing will enable this and will provide India with a stronger voice, making it a more active participant in global energy governance.

India’s importance in the global energy system, and the opportunities and challenges ahead, will be reflected in a new India Energy Outlook 2021 that will be released in the first half of February. Using the latest available energy data, the report will examine different pathways for India out of the Covid-19 crisis and the pandemic’s longer-term impacts on India’s energy supply, demand and investment.

India’s policy decisions over the coming years will be critical for achieving its goal of a secure, affordable and sustainable energy system that can help power robust economic growth. The IEA is eager to support India in this endeavour, and we hope that our collaboration can help India continue on its path to a brighter energy future.