India’s global energy engagement has undergone a quiet but decisive shift over the past three decades, evolving from a hydrocarbons-centric dialogue anchored by the Petrotech conference to a broader, integrated and transition-ready platform under India Energy Week.

The fourth edition of India Energy Week (IEW) will take place from January 27-30, 2026, in Goa, bringing together the global energy community to drive dialogue, collaboration and innovation across the energy value chain.

IEW now occupies a “unique position on the global energy calendar,” according to Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.

Unlike other international conferences, IEW deliberates on all forms of energy – from fossil fuels to biofuels and hydrogen.

The foundations of India’s global engagement were laid in the mid-1990s with the launch of biennial Petrotech, which for over two decades (from 1st edition in 1995 to 13th and last in 2019) served as India’s principal interface with the global oil and gas industry..

At a time when India was opening up its upstream and downstream sectors, Petrotech provided a platform to attract international oil companies, showcase exploration opportunities and reinforce India’s growing importance as a demand centre in global hydrocarbon markets.

This industry-focused engagement was complemented in the mid-2000s by a more outward-looking phase of energy diplomacy under then petroleum minister Mani Shankar Aiyar. Faced with rising oil prices and deepening import dependence, Aiyar sought to elevate India’s role in global energy governance by promoting structured dialogue between producers and consumers.

His engagement with OPEC, participation in meetings in Vienna, and getting who’s who in the oil producing cartel OPEC as well as major consumers in China, Korea and Japan in New Delhi in January 2005 for the Asian Oil Minister’s Roundtable marked one of India’s earliest attempts to move beyond transactional supply arrangements toward cooperative frameworks centred on market stability, mutual security of supply and demand, and cross-border investment.

As the global energy narrative widened in the 2010s to include decarbonisation, digitalisation and new fuels, India’s engagement platforms began to evolve accordingly. Petrotech, while still relevant, reflected a largely hydrocarbons-led worldview. The launch of the India Energy Forum by CERAWeek in 2017 signalled a transition phase, introducing global conversations on energy transition and policy into India’s discourse while retaining a strong oil and gas core.

India Energy Forum by CERAWeek ran five annual editions – from October 2017 to October 2021 – before the advent of India Energy Week in 2023, which consolidated India’s global energy outreach into a single, integrated platform.

According to Puri, IEW spans oil and gas, renewables, hydrogen, biofuels, digital infrastructure and clean technologies, mirroring India’s dual priorities of energy security and transition.

The platform reflects a more mature engagement strategy – one that recognises hydrocarbons remaining central for decades even as investment, technology and policy increasingly pivot toward lower-carbon pathways.

While hydrocarbons remain central to India’s energy mix, the pivot from Petrotech to IEW underscores a strategic recalibration: from sector-specific engagement to a holistic narrative that aligns investment, technology and climate goals. As India’s energy demand grows and its global role deepens, India Energy Week has emerged as the country’s primary interface with the world’s energy policymakers, investors and technology leaders.

While Petrotech and India Energy Forum by CERAWeek were hosted in New Delhi, IEW moved out of the national capital – the first edition being held in Bengaluru, followed by 2nd in Goa before the third being hosted in New Delhi. When the second edition of IEW was hosted in a make-shift pavilion at ONGC’s Advanced Training Institute at Betul in south Goa, Puri had announced that ONGC would build a permanent exhibition-cum-conference venue at the vast unused land it held at the site.

The company spent some Rs 440 crore to build a 5,000-seat plenary auditorium and an expansive exhibition hall designed for large-scale conferences, summits, and exhibitions. This will host the 4th edition of IEW.

Anchored in the theme ‘Energising Growth. Securing Economies. Enriching Lives’, the 2026 edition marks the transition from global engagement and alignment to execution and scale. IEW will bring together 75,000+ energy professionals, 700+ exhibitors, 6,500+ delegates, 550+ speakers, 110+ sessions and 9+ country pavilions, positioning IEW as the world’s second-largest energy conference and a leading forum for advancing energy security, sustainability, innovation and inclusive economic growth, according to Puri.

He said the exhibition is structured into 11 thematic zones and will host 11 country pavilions (Japan, UK, Germany, Italy, US, Netherlands, Norway, Canada, Russia, China).

Like in practice since India Energy Forum by CERAWeek, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will engage with global CEOs and captain’s Indian energy industry on the sidelines of the conference to brainstorm on issues facing the sector. This meeting will be held in New Delhi on January 28, according to Puri.

Modi will virtually inaugurate IEW on January 27.

Published on January 26, 2026

Pedestrians are silhouetted in front of an electronic board displaying the Nikkei share average outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan
| Photo Credit:
KIM KYUNG-HOON

Asian shares mostly declined Monday, as Japan’s benchmark took a tumble after the yen surged against the US dollar.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 dropped 1.9 per cent to 52,812.45 on selling of big exporters like Toyota Motor Corp., whose shares fell 3.2 per cent .

A weak currency is generally favourable for Japanese exporters because it helps elevate the value of their overseas earnings. In recent months, the dollar has gained against the yen. It fell sharply in the past few days after officials in both Japan and the US indicated they were prepared to intervene to support the yen.

The dollar slipped to 154.26 Japanese yen from 155.01 yen. It had been trading around 158 yen last week.

The euro rose to $1.1866 from $1.1858.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea’s Kospi dipped 0.6 per cent to 4,961.58.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng inched down 0.1 per cent to 26,722.89, while the Shanghai Composite added 0.1 per cent to 4,141.10.

Markets were closed in Australia, New Zealand, India and Indonesia.

US futures edged lower on persisting uncertainty over US tariff policies, among other issues.

The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.3 per cent.

A threat by US President Donald Trump to impose a 100 per cent tariff on goods from Canada was countered by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Trump had warned he might hike tariffs if Canada signed a free trade deal with China. Carney said Canada had no plans for such a deal.

In 2024, Canada mirrored the United States by putting a 100 per cent tariff on electric vehicles from Beijing and a 25 per cent tariff on steel and aluminum. China had responded by imposing 100 per cent import taxes on Canadian canola oil and meal and 25 per cent on pork and seafood.

Breaking with the United States this month during a visit to China, Carney cut its 100 per cent tariff on Chinese electric cars in return for lower tariffs on those Canadian products.

On Friday, the S&P 500 edged up less than 0.1 per cent to 6,915.61. But it still notched a second straight week with a modest loss. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.6 per cent to 49,098.71. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.3 per cent to 23,501.24.

The majority of stocks on Wall Street fell, and Intel weighed on the market after tumbling 17 per cent.

The next chance for the U.S. Federal Reserve to move the short-term interest rate it controls will come on Wednesday. The market expectation is that it will hold steady.

In other dealings early Monday, benchmark U.S. crude rose 2 cents to $61.09 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, edged up 3 cents to $65.10 a barrel.

Gold gained 2% to nearly $5,100 an ounce, while silver jumped 6.4% to about $108 per ounce. The value of precious metals has surged in recent months as investors sought relatively safe places to invest. (AP) AMS

Published on January 26, 2026

Banks and non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) have registered a notable decline in construction equipment (CE) loan growth in Q3FY26, largely due to lack of spending by both state and central government for infrastructure development projects, senior industry members say.

Says Ashok Vaswani, MD & CEO, Kotak Mahindra Bank (KMB), “On the CE segment, definitely at the industry level we have seen quite a slowdown. And a lot of this slowdown is because demand from state governments for CEs has kind of moderated. We are hoping that this picks up and overall industry levels go up. Our growth is very much in-line with industry levels.”

Umesh Revankar, executive vice-chairman, Shriram Finance, says CE’s share in the NBFC’s overall asset under management (AUM) continued to decline in Q3. “There has been a slowdown in overall construction activity, especially in the infrastructure sector. The future demand will depend on Union Budget, at least we will know what projects were executed in last financial year and plans for next fiscal. Everything hinges on the Finance Minister’s plans,” he said.

Shriram Finance’s CE loans stood at Rs 14,219 crore in Q3, 20 per cent lower year-on-year (y-o-y) and 7 per cent quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q). Share of CEs in the NBFC’s AUM reduced to 4.87 per cent in Q3 from 7.02 per cent a year ago. KMB’s commercial vehicle and CE book rose just 2 per cent q-o-q to Rs 44,517 crore. CE loans contributed to 2.3 per cent of Tata Capital’s net AUM in Q3, lower than 2.5 per cent a quarter ago.

CE sales slowdown

According to industry body Indian Construction Equipment Manufacturers’ Association (ICEMA), in Q3FY26, total CE sales declined 9 per cent y-o-y, and for April–December 2025 overall industry volumes stood at around 94,000 units, reflecting a 5 per cent decline, driven by a 10 per cent contraction in domestic sales even as exports grew strongly by 28 per cent.

Deepak Shetty, President, ICEMA and MD, CEO at JCB India, says domestic demand for CEs in calendar year 2025 remained muted. The growth of CE industry is significantly dependent on infrastructure development projects which experienced some headwinds, he says.

“This was also a period of adjustment for customers after the CEV Stage V emission standards came into effect, which impacted the asset value of our products. However, at a broader level we remain hopeful of demand coming back as infrastructure development has always been a focus area for the Government, particularly Rural Infrastructure, which is a key growth driver for our Industry,” Shetty said.

“Encouragingly, recent months have shown early signs of stabilisation, with December recording a 2% month-on-month improvement in overall sales despite a year-on-year decline. With faster project awards at Central and State level, improved execution at state level and supportive policy measures, particularly higher infrastructure capex and better credit availability, industry remains optimistic about a recovery in domestic CE demand in the coming quarters,” he added.

Narendra G Kamath, COO – SME Finance, Tata Capital, says while December showed early signs of stabilisation with sequential improvement in sales, lending activity is likely to pick up meaningfully only as project awards accelerate, execution improves and cash flows at the contractor level normalise. “From a lender’s standpoint, we see this as a critical transition phase and remain optimistic about a recovery as infrastructure spending regains momentum,” he said. ENDS

Published on January 25, 2026