hardeep singh puri. could energy be india's achilles heel? thank you. good to be back. to mark the centenary of india's modern nationhood. it's a grand ambition. not possible? i think it's going to be made possible well before the 100 years of independence are over. if you permit, my vision of what is at stake in the world according to the monetary fund, the imf. the size of your economy is beyond dispute. 1.4? yes. is enormous. no question. but economists reckon that to become fully developed, to use that phrase, i.e. let me put it to you differently. where has the developed country been defined? point one. i mean, i know of no definition in the multilateral system. development has to be all comprehensive. i think in many respects we are already better developed but i ask you the broad question, because you are a key extraordinary growth path that you outline, then in fact, they are going to dominate global energy markets to a very real extent. it's going to leave india very energy dependent on outside energy sources, is it not? not really. availabilit

well, my guest today is india's petroleum minister, minister hardeep singh puri, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. good to be back. it's great to have you on the show. let me begin by asking you about your boss, prime minister modi's grand ambition to have india become a fully developed nation, as he puts it, by 2047, to mark the centenary of india's modern nationhood. it's a grand ambition. but in all honesty, it's not possible, is it? and the power of having 1.4 soon to be 1.5 billion. 1.4? yes. is enormous. no question. but economists reckon that to become fully developed, to use i ask you a counter question. point one. i mean, i know of no definition in the multilateral system. i know of countries being termed least developed countries, and there is a listing of them. developed country to a developing country. than some of the so—called developed countries but i ask you the broad question, because you are a key minister responsible for energy, in your case, petroleum and natural gas in this country. and if india is indeed to continue on this then india's energy needs are going to be