Energy planning must stay ahead of economic expansion or risk becoming a binding constraint on growth, said Pankaj Jain, Former Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Member Secretary, Eighth Central Pay Commission, at India Energy Week 2026 in Goa.
Speaking during a Leadership Spotlight Session on the third day of the global energy forum, Pankaj Jain said India’s journey towards Viksit Bharat 2047 demands forward looking, integrated and data driven energy policymaking. Addressing the session titled Empowering economic policy with energy data steering Indias growth towards Viksit Bharat 2047 on the Addition Stage, he cautioned against reactive planning.
“Energy cannot play catch up. Energy has to anticipate. If we falter even once in planning energy for GDP growth, it becomes a constraint,” Jain said, pointing to the risks of delayed capacity creation caused by fragmented and siloed decision making.
He noted that while India possesses extensive datasets across sectors, energy related data remains dispersed across petroleum, power, coal and gas segments. He called for stronger integration of these datasets to support macroeconomic forecasting, fiscal planning and infrastructure prioritisation. Jain stressed that accurate and timely energy data is essential not only for capacity planning but also for managing fiscal outcomes, investment incentives and long term economic stability.
Highlighting the supply side challenge, Srikant Nagulapalli, Director General, Directorate General of Hydrocarbons, said India’s energy demand will expand sharply as the country advances toward 2047. He said hydrocarbons will continue to play a critical role, particularly in hard to abate sectors such as fertilisers and refining, even as renewable energy capacity grows. Given India’s high import dependence and the long gestation periods required for domestic production, he underlined the importance of timely, data backed decisions to ensure energy security and preparedness.
From a market perspective, Vandana Hari, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Vanda Insights, highlighted the close linkage between global oil and gas prices and India’s macroeconomic indicators. She said price volatility makes scenario based and probabilistic planning indispensable, reinforcing the need for robust, real time energy data in policy formulation.
Adding a financial lens to the discussion, Pradip Kumar Das, Chairman and Managing Director, Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited, said India’s rapid renewable energy expansion must be supported by aligned data on intermittency, storage, supply chains and emerging technologies. He said such alignment is necessary to ensure that the energy transition remains reliable, affordable and attractive for long term investment.
India Energy Week is the country’s flagship global energy platform that brings together government leaders, industry executives and innovators to drive policy alignment, investment and technological collaboration for a secure, sustainable and affordable energy future.
