WASHINGTON, Oct. 18, 2017 - India received its first-ever shipment of American petroleum earlier this month, among signs that the Asian nation’s energy needs are increasing at a faster rate than all other regions of the world. The United Nations projects India’s population will become more urbanized, leading to significant growth in energy consumption for buildings through 2040. The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA’s) International Energy Outlook 2017 projects that delivered energy consumption for residential and commercial buildings in India is expected to increase by an average of 2.7 percent per year between 2015 and 2040, more than twice the global average increase.
Rapid economic growth, rising income, growing population, and urbanization are factors in the growth in India’s buildings energy consumption. India has the world’s highest projected gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate, averaging 5 percent per year from 2015 to 2040.
Indian Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan, met with OPEC Secretary General Muhammad Sanusi Barkindo recently in New Delhi to discuss cooperative efforts in energy exchange. Barkindo praised India as one of the most dynamic countries in the world, particularly regarding its rapidly expanding oil and gas industry.
“India's engagement with OPEC is important as India sources about 86 percent of crude oil, 75 percent of natural gas, 95 percent of LPG from OPEC member countries,” Barkindo said.
Barkindo credited India’s growth to a slate of new reforms including its demonetization policy, a goods and services tax (GST), and efforts to diversify the energy mix. EIA expects India’s economic growth, rising income, and population growth will increase the need for education, health care, leisure, recreation, and other services, in turn leading to an increase in demand for lighting, space cooling, and office equipment.
Meanwhile, residential delivered energy consumption in India is projected to grow by an average of 2.4 percent per year from 2015 to 2040. 
EIA expects household per capita disposable income to grow by an average of 3.2 percent per year as more people have access to electricity and the ownership of electricity-using appliances and equipment (particularly air conditioners) grows. As a result, EIA expects residential electricity consumption to increase nearly twice as fast as total residential sector energy use from 2015 to 2040.
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