Former Prime Minister of India - Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee

SPEECH OF PRIME MINISTER, SHRI ATAL BIHARI VAJPAYEE, AT INAUGURAL OF EXECUTIVE ASSEMBLY, WORLD ENERGY COUNCIL

My Cabinet colleague, Minister of Power, Shri Suresh Prabhu,

Minister of State, Smt. Jayawantiben Mehha,

Mr. Jim Adam,

Ladies and Gentlemen:

It gives me great pleasure to be present at this distinguished gathering of energy sector specialists and policy-makers.

Many of you have travelled from various parts of the world to participate in this session of the Executive Assembly of the World Energy Council. As an emerging economic powerhouse, India is happy to host the first session of the Executive Assembly in the new century.

The world is becoming increasingly technology-driven. In its quest for conquering new frontiers of scientific knowledge, humankind is adopting tools that are technology-centric. In all this, energy is a key determinant.

Indeed, energy today plays a key role in deciding levels of development: Per capita consumption of energy is now seen as a measure of economic growth and social progress of individuals, societies and nations.

For equitable development of nations across the world, it is essential that access to and availability of energy sources should be guaranteed to all. However, with nearly half the world’s people surviving on less than two dollars a day and a third on less than one dollar a day, access to and availability of energy sources continue to elude many a developing nation.

The situation is compounded by the fact that majority of the rural population in developing nations is still dependent on traditional fuels. This at best meets basic human requirements, but does not improve the quality of the lives of the poor and marginalised.

Therefore, to ensure equitable development within and among nations, we have to work towards equitable and sustainable access to and availability of energy sources.

In the era of globalisation, attaining this should not be impossible. Indeed, globalisation offers immense possibilities of developed and developing nations working together in the energy sector to their mutual advantage.

Developed countries have access to technology, financial resources and expertise; developing countries offer an expanding market for energy sources. In this scenario, the World Energy Council can play an important role in encouraging partnership between developing and developed countries.

Economic liberalisation and globalisation have led to increasing demand for energy – to run industry, to create infrastructure and to meet rising domestic requirements. This has further strengthened the case for partnership in the energy sector.

We in India, determined to keep pace with the rest of the world and ensure rapid socio-economic development, have taken several significant steps in the energy sector. Extensive power sector reforms have been undertaken and a regulatory mechanism established for fixing tariffs and ensuring quality supply. There is no cap on Foreign Direct Investment in power generation. Several steps have also been taken to make the petroleum and coal sectors more investor friendly.

We are confident that our initiatives will lead to greater participation and wider partnership in developing India’s energy sector.

Friends,

For adequate, equitable and sustainable energy development, we must focus on the agreed principles of collective endeavour as laid down in The Rio Declaration on Environment & Development, 1992. The first principle of the Declaration states, ~Human beings are at the centre of concerns for sustainable development.~

It is this concern that should lie at the core of business – global, national or corporate.

Seen in this context, the World Energy Council, at its 17th World Congress in Houston two years ago, was right in concluding that the number one priority for development of sustainable energy for all was to extend access to commercial energy services to the two billion people who do not have it now. And, to the almost two billion people who, it is estimated, will come into this world in the next two decades.

Success in meeting the energy requirements of these four billion people over the next two decades should be regarded as the first test of the sustainability of our collective global energy development efforts. This is an opportunity and a challenge – for developed and developing nations -- to establish an environmentally sustainable system for the Twenty-first Century.

The ‘Rio Declaration’ further says that ~All states and all people shall cooperate in the essential task of eradicating poverty as an indispensable requirement for sustainable development, in order to decrease the disparities in standards of living and better meet the needs of the majority of the people of the world. The special situation and needs of developing countries, particularly the least developed and those most environmentally vulnerable, shall be given special priority.~

Any development agenda, whether global, national or corporate, therefore, should be framed bearing in mind these principles that form, what can be described as, the ‘global ethics’ of development.

Friends,

People-centered energy goals should be fundamental to energy business in the Twenty-first Century. This will call for comprehensive national, regional and global policy initiatives to encourage reforms, augment infrastructure, upgrade technologies and introduce new technologies. Above all, to balance environment as well as well as development concerns of different economies in harmony with their unique economic and social requirements.

Energy concerns across the world are marked by a certain amount of variance in priorities. Developed nations are seized with environmental implications of energy concerns. On the other hand, developing nations are focused on ensuring that their people have access to basic minimum tool for securing their livelihood, including access to energy supply.

The role of a global agency like the World Energy Council lies in promoting convergence and integration of the priorities of developing and developed countries.

I am sure that the World Energy Council will play a constructive role in shaping the energy sector of developing nations so that they have greater and equitable access to energy sources and, thereby, help ensure sustainable development.

With these words, I inaugurate this session of the Executive Assembly of the World Energy Council.

Thank You.