India can become $5-tn economy much before 2028: Puri

Davos: Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday asserted that India can become a five trillion dollar economy much before 2028 and said the country's energy transition needs to be done in an orderly manner to safeguard the interests of its large population.

Puri, the minister for petroleum and natural gas as well as housing and urban affairs, said India is aware of its commitments towards sustainability goals and will meet all the targets in time while meeting the requirements of a growing economy.

He was speaking at a CII-EY breakfast session on 'accelerating India's energy transition towards sustainable economic growth' on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2024.

"I don't think we need to wait till 2028 to become a five trillion dollar economy, and if you look at what is happening, it should happen much before 2028," he said while listing various macroeconomic parameters.

"I also think that the transition has to be orderly because transition by nature has to have both a clear roadmap and it must have in place all the safeguards that will ensure that there are no knee-jerk decisions taken," he noted.

Puri said it is even more so important for a country like India, which is also now the world's most populous country.

"When it comes to energy, the relationship between economic growth and energy is very important. Because we are now close to a 4 trillion dollar economy, but the fact is, we need to take care of a very large part of our population.

"It's one thing to be theorising about the need for the transition without having to take care of domestic compulsions.

As far as India is concerned, availability and energy resources are important because we import a key portion of our crude oil requirements," he said.