• Saudi Arabia stands committed to meeting all of India’s energy needs, especially in oil its Energy Minister delivered this in the India Energy Forum.

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• Saudi Arabia is interested in partnering with India for developing complementary supply chains as well as deploying finance and new technologies here.
• It is also interested in developing solar power projects here through its partnership with the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund of India (NIIF).
• Announcement also assumes significance given that most solar power developers in India have been sourcing solar modules and equipment from countries such as China, where they are cheaper. Saudi Arabia plans to manufacture 200 gigawatts (GW) of photo voltaic capacity by 2030. India on its part has an ambitious 175GW clean energy target by 2022, of which 100GW is to come from solar projects.
• Earlier, delegation from Saudi meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and assured them of our full and continuing commitment to meet India’s energy demands, especially in oil, and to invest in India. Relations between the Kingdom and India are growing more strategic. Being the largest supplier of energy to India, Saudi has always had a long-term commitment to the country’s energy security. Tapping into India’s world-leading growth & Investing in India’s value chain from oil supply, marketing and refining to petrochemicals and lubricants is a key part of Saudi’s global downstream strategy.
• Saudi Arabia is a crucial source of energy for India and hosts a number of expatriate Indians. PIF, which acts as the Kingdom’s main investment arm, plans to increase assets under management from around $230 billion to over $400 billion by 2020. Building “strategic economic partnerships” is among its key objectives.

India Energy Forum:

• Established in October 2001, the Forum has acquired a unique status as a spokesman of total energy sector. Most major public and private sector organizations in Power, Oil and Gas, Coal and Renewable Energy have become its members.
• The Forum is perhaps the only Indian Organisation which represents energy sector as a whole. The Forum tries to bring, Government institutions, policy makers, and multi-national agencies in an attempt to identify and resolve problems, which impede the development of projects in India.
• The Forum serves as a catalyst for the development of a sustainable and competitive energy sector in India. India’s energy requirements are enormous and the demand is growing but our resources are limited both in physical and financial terms.
• It is a long-term imperative that these resources are exploited optimally. India is attracting significant attention from major overseas project developers, equipment suppliers and financiers. The Forum serves as an independent advocate of the industry promoting practical solutions to problems affecting project development and finance in India.
• The Forum works with companies and Government (Centre and States) to achieve consensus on such issues as regulatory structures and policies and the role of public organizations. In addition, the Forum works closely with multilateral and domestic companies and agencies to ensure that their products and services are responsive to the needs of the project development in India.