According to Mr Pranab Mukherjee finance minister of India, structural reforms are needed to make the energy sector vibrant and investor friendly.

Mr Mukherjee said that "While the government is adopting a number of fiscal incentives to attract investments, including in the vital energy sector, there are structural reforms required in the energy industry, to utilize those incentives.”

Expressing confidence that India would soon turn to double digit growth path, Mr Mukherjee said contribution of the energy sector was vital for achieving high economic growth. He said that "If we can put into effect some important structural policy measures, there is no reason why India cannot achieve double-digit gross domestic product growth."

Indian economy grew 8.8% in the first quarter of fiscal 2010-11.

The finance minister emphasised the need for greater coordination between energy producing and consuming countries. Mr Mukherjee said that "Recent history shows us that the geo-politics of oil and gas is quite complicated. It is quite natural that nations would place their individual developmental agenda ahead of collective global needs. Notwithstanding the inherent challenges in achieving a trade off in this vital issue, there are various areas where possible cooperation will resolve a number of bottlenecks in energy business across nations.”

He added that "If this Petrotech-2010 can achieve even a part of the possibilities in this regard, it may translate into huge savings, which can light up lives in a number of energy-starved developing nations.”

(Sourced from ET)