New Delhi, Jan 27 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday invited global investors to participate in India's growing energy sector, which offers a USD 500 billion investment opportunity, and stressed that the country will soon become the world's largest refining hub.

Addressing the India Energy Week 2026, he urged investors to invest in sectors like refining, LNG value chain infrastructure, city gas distribution, and oil & gas exploration.

The Prime Minister said the nation is targeting USD 100 billion investments in the oil and gas sector by 2030, and the oil refining capacity will be expanded from 260 million tonnes per annum to 300 MTPA.

The Prime Minister said, "Our energy sector is at the heart of our aspirations. It offers investment opportunities worth USD 500 billion. Therefore, my appeal is: Make in India, innovate in India, Scale with India, Invest in India." He pointed out that India is among the top five exporters in the energy sector.

“If I talk about the energy sector, there are immense investment opportunities across the energy value chain. Take the exploration sector, for example: India has opened it considerably, he stated.

You are also aware of our deep-sea exploration efforts, the 'Samudra Manthan' project, he noted.

"We are trying to increase investments in our oil and gas sector to USD 100 billion by the end of this decade. Our goal is also to expand the scope of exploration to one million square kilometres. With this vision, more than 170 blocks have already been awarded here," he said.

The Andaman and Nicobar basin is also becoming our next hydrocarbon hope, he noted.

He also discussed the implementation of numerous reforms in the exploration sector and noted that the no-go areas have been significantly reduced.

"Whatever suggestions were made during the last edition of IEW, we have made changes to our rules. If you invest in the exploration sector, the profitability of your company is bound to increase," he said.

Another characteristic of India makes investment in the energy sector highly profitable. It has a very large refining capacity. The nation is the second largest in the world in terms of refining capacity, he noted.

"Soon we will be number one. Today, India's refining capacity is approximately 260 million tonnes per annum (MTPA). There is a continuous effort to increase this to over 300 million TPA. This is a huge advantage for investors," he said.

He also noted that the demand for LNG in India is continuously increasing.

India has set a target to meet 15 per cent of its total energy demand through LNG.

"Therefore, we need to work on the entire LNG value chain. India is also working on transportation on a very large scale. We are working on manufacturing the vessels required for LNG transportation right here in India," he said.

Recently, a programme worth Rs 70,000 crore has been launched in India for shipbuilding, he noted.

Additionally, there are many investment opportunities in the construction of terminals and LNG ports across the country.

There are also great opportunities for you to invest in projects related to re-gasification, he urged investors.

India also needs a very large pipeline network to transport LNG. It has invested heavily in this over the past few years, but there are still opportunities for large-scale investment, he stated.

The city gas distribution network has reached many cities in India, and India is rapidly connecting to other cities as well.

The city gas distribution sector is also very attractive for your investment, he stated.

India has a large population and its economy is constantly growing, so the demand for petrochemical products will also increase, he pointed out.

Therefore, we will need a very large energy infrastructure, and your investment in this will also give you significant growth, he urged investors.

Apart from all this, there are many investment opportunities in downstream activities in India, he suggested.

"India is riding the reforms express and is rapidly implementing reforms in every sector. We are undertaking reforms to strengthen hydrocarbons and create a transparent and investor-friendly environment for global collaborations," he said.

India is now moving beyond energy security and working towards achieving energy independence, he noted.

India is developing an energy sector ecosystem that can meet domestic demand and, with affordable refining and transportation solutions, will also make exports to the world highly competitive, he stated.

India Energy Week 2026 serves as a premier global platform uniting policymakers, industry leaders and innovators to advance energy security, sustainability and inclusive growth. PTI ANZ KKS CS DRR DRR