India's energy sector offers USD 500 billion investment opportunities: PM Modi
New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said India's energy sector offers USD 500 billion investment opportunities and urged global investors to invest in the country.
Addressing the India Energy Week 2026, he said, "India is a land of opportunities for the energy sector as demand is continuously increasing … India will soon become the world's largest oil refining hub”
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.
He said that India is riding the reforms express and undertaking reforms across sectors.
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Modi said the India-EU Free Trade Agreement complements the India-UK trade deal, as it will boost the manufacturing sector and support services.
He said people are discussing the India-EU trade deal as the “mother of all deals” and this agreement has brought a lot of opportunities for 140 crore Indians as well as Europeans.
This is an excellent example of coordination between two economies.
This agreement accounts for 25 per cent of global GDP and one-third of global trade, Modi said.
India Energy Week 2026 serves as a premier global platform uniting policymakers, industry leaders and innovators to advance energy security, sustainability and inclusive growth.
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CM Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar court arrest protesting against MGNREGA scrapping
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his deputy D K Shivakumar, Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, along with party legislators and MPs, were on Tuesday taken into preventive custody after they decided to march towards Lok Bhavan as part of "Raj Bhavan Chalo" protest.
The protest was against the Centre's move to replace MGNREGA with VB-G RAM G.
The Congress leaders were stopped by police when they attempted to proceed towards Lok Bhavan, alleging that the Union government was dismantling the rural employment guarantee framework and curtailing the rights of Panchayats.
The leaders boarded a bus deployed by the police outside the venue after delivering their speech and courted arrest.
Addressing protesters before being detained, Siddaramaiah said this 'Ram' in VB-G RAM G is not Dasharath Ram or Seeta Ram. It stands for Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Aajivika Mission (Gramin).
He said MGNREGA was a right to livelihood and employment, introduced by the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government, and accused the Centre of trying to destroy it.
"MGNREGA was the right of the people, but not any more. Around five crore people, including the differently-abled, were getting employment in the rural areas. The Centre now wants to decide what work should be done, whereas earlier it was done by Panchayats," Siddaramaiah alleged, adding that the role of Panchayats had been severely curtailed.
The chief minister further claimed that each Panchayat was earlier getting around Rs one crore. Now they will be deprived of it.
"We will fight until VB-G RAM G is revoked and MGNREGA is re-established. VB-G RAM G does not guarantee employment the way MGNREGA did," he said.
Accusing the BJP of attacking rural India, Siddaramaiah said, "Gandhiji said unless villages develop, the nation cannot develop. By scrapping MGNREGA, the BJP has killed Mahatma Gandhi once again."
He called upon people for agitation in every village across the state.
Surjewala, who is also Karnataka in-charge, alleged that the Centre was bent on scrapping the rural employment guarantee scheme. "The Union government wants to dismantle MGNREGA. I urge the Karnataka government to rename Panchayat centres as 'Mahatma Gandhi Kendra'."
Shivakumar warned of political consequences for the BJP, saying, "By scrapping MGNREGA, the BJP has invited trouble for itself. People in rural areas will not accept VB-G RAM G, and they will not pardon the BJP for repealing the employment guarantee law."
