BackDharmendra Pradhan back in driving seat to ensure India’s energy security
Dharmendra Pradhan will oversee India’s energy security needs at a time of uncertainty in the global energy marketsPradhan was earlier a MP in the 14th Lok Sabha from Deogarh in Odisha
PremiumNew Delhi: Dharmendra Pradhan is India’s petroleum and natural gas minister. Credited with giving a strong fight to Naveen Patnaik in Odisha, 49-year old Pradhan who was sworn in on Thursday in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new council of ministers will also be responsible for the steel ministry.
As a member of the union cabinet, Pradhan will oversee India’s energy security needs at a time of uncertainty in the global energy markets. Pradhan is not new to the challenges and was earlier tasked as well with the twin portfolio of ministries of petroleum, and skill development and entrepreneurship.
Pradhan, was earlier a MP in the 14th Lok Sabha from Deogarh in Odisha and also a MLA in the state assembly.
Pradhan assumes office against the backdrop of tightening US sanctions against Iran, and production curbs by the Opec, which have driven up oil prices. Higher oil prices stoke inflation and hurt economic growth in India, whose energy needs are primarily met through imports. India imports more than 80% of its oil requirements and around 18% of the natural gas it needs.
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Padhan has been seized of India’s situation on the vexed issue of crude oil purchases from Iran and is a well known figure in the energy capitals of the world. He has been in close contact with Saudi Arabia’s energy minister Khalid Al-Falih to help meet India’s energy requirements.
India has kept its option open to purchase oil from Iran, with then foreign minister Sushma Swaraj informing her visiting Iranian counterpart, Javad Zarif, that New Delhi will take a decision after the national polls come to an end on 23 May.
India is among Iran’s top oil customers with imports of 23.5 million tonnes in 2018-19. While supplies are not an issue, the price at which the crude oil is to be bought will have a bearing on the Indian economy.
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The Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament was the BJP's face in Odisha, a key state for its rising east strategy, winning eight Lok Sabha seats compared to one in 2014. The BJP, which had won 10 seats in the 2014 Odisha assembly elections, also upped its tally to 23 seats.
With soft-spoken Pradhan at the helm of petroleum ministry, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government leveraged the marque Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), which provides free cooking gas connections to poor families, to put it on a home run in the general elections.
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