New Delhi: India’s position as a major energy consumer gives it leverage to secure long-term global supply agreements, said Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri on Friday while addressing a curtain-raiser press conference for India Energy Week (IEW) 2026. “Today we are one of the biggest consumers of energy, it also gives us a little bit of a positioning inside the world because people who have energy would surely want to sell it. And we should position ourselves to get proper long-term agreements,” said Puri.
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Noting that global energy markets have remained largely stable inspite of geopolitical stresses, Puri stated that both energy producers and consumers have a stake in the viability, strength and predictability of the system. “We are all in this together, consumers and producers, if we play the game in a constructive way,” the minister said. The statement comes as India is set to host IEW 2026 in Goa from January 27-30 which will bring together global energy ministers, industry leaders, policymakers, financial institutions, academia and technology providers.
Commenting on Venezuela and Iran, the minister said that he expects more energy to come into the market from these countries. “No matter what happens in Venezuela and Iran, I have a feeling at some stage or the other, more energy will come. But notice one thing, more and more energy is coming on to the global market from the western hemisphere. By western hemisphere, I mean Brazil, Guyana, Suriname, Canada, US etc.”
Describing IEW as the first major international energy event of the year, the minister said the platform will focus on strengthening energy security, catalysing investment and advancing practical decarbonisation pathways.
Highlighting the growing global stature of the event, Puri noted that India Energy Week has expanded significantly year-on-year since its inception. While the inaugural edition in 2023 witnessed participation of around 30,000 delegates and 316 exhibitors, the event grew to over 45,000 participants in 2024 and 68,000 participants in 2025. IEW 2026 is expected to be the largest edition so far, with over 75,000 delegates, more than 600 exhibitors, including 180 international exhibitors, over 500 global speakers and 120+ conference sessions. The minister underlined that the scale and diversity of participation reflects India’s rising leadership role in shaping the global energy dialogue.
Puri informed that 17 ministers and deputy ministers from countries, including UAE, Canada, Netherlands, Oman, Brunei, Myanmar, Tanzania and others have confirmed their participation, along with international organisations such as the International Energy Forum, BIMSTEC and the Eurasian Economic Union. The event will also host 11 country pavilions, including Japan, UK, Germany, Italy, US, Netherlands, Australia, Russia and China, among others, said Puri.
He said the exhibition will be organised across 11 thematic zones hosted by leading public sector undertakings, covering areas such as digitalisation and AI, hydrogen, renewable energy, petrochemicals, biofuels, LNG ecosystem, city gas distribution, Make in India and net-zero solutions, with new additions including a Nuclear Energy Zone and a Sustainable Aviation Fuel Zone.
Referring to the strategic conference programme, the Minister said IEW 2026 will be structured around 10 strategic themes reflecting global priorities and India’s evolving leadership role. He said the conference will feature four ministerial sessions, including the inaugural session bringing together energy ministers and senior policymakers, along with 47 leadership and spotlight panel discussions involving global industry leaders and experts. In addition, five Energy Talks will be held as one-on-one conversations with senior global energy leaders, focusing on technology, markets and sustainability.
Emphasising the government’s focus on indigenisation, Puri said a dedicated Make in India and Indigenisation Pavilion led by Engineers India Limited (EIL) will promote collaboration with MSMEs, vendors and start-ups, supporting the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat through localisation of critical equipment. He added that the pavilion will also host daily Energy Talks, highlighting technology-led transformation and sustainability.
“India Energy Week 2026 will serve as a platform for concrete business outcomes, with several major agreements and memoranda of understanding proposed to be signed during the event,” said the minister. These include shipbuilding contracts involving ONGC, Mitsui OSK Lines of Japan and Samsung Heavy Industries of South Korea; a term contract between BPCL and Petrobras for supply of Brazilian crude oil, collaboration agreements between BPRL and Shell for global upstream opportunities, MoUs involving OIL, NRL and TotalEnergies for LNG sourcing, and a collaboration between NRL and Total Energies for setting up a 200 KTPA Sustainable Aviation Fuel project at Paradip, Odisha.
Highlighting the importance of high-level engagement, the minister said a series of key side events and roundtables will be organised alongside the main conference. These include the 9th Prime Minister’s Roundtable, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with global CEOs, Indian public sector undertakings and private sector leaders, including senior executives from leading global energy and technology companies. However, the CEOs’ roundtable will be held in Delhi.
Puri further informed that other major side events will include the India-Arab Energy Dialogue, to be co-chaired by the minister with the International Energy Forum; the India-Japan Energy Roundtable as a follow-up to the Tokyo session; India-Iceland Roundtable focusing on geothermal energy and carbon capture, utilisation and storage; India-Netherlands Energy Roundtable; and roundtables with USIBC and USISPF aimed at strengthening India–US trade and investment ties in the energy sector.
The minister said that IEW 2026 will also place strong emphasis on innovation and start-up participation through initiatives such as Avinya 2026 – the Startup Challenge, Vasudha 3.0 with global participation, and the Hackathon Challenge 2026 involving IITs and focused on critical energy sector challenges including AI-based exploration, energy efficiency, hydrogen economy and circular economy.
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Puri added that several important knowledge products will be launched during the event, including a white paper on Biofuels Financing and a Sustainable Aviation Fuel microsite, along with the release of the India Bioenergy Outlook 2030 by IEA and PPAC. He said these knowledge initiatives will support informed policymaking and investment decisions in emerging energy sectors.