India’s role in global oil and gas markets is expected to expand substantially, with the energy demand projected to double by 2050, fueled by strong economic and population growth.

India is expected to receive investments worth $87 billion in the next decade to meet the nation’s rising demand for petrochemicals, the country’s oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Friday.

“As more citizens enter the middle class, the demand for a diverse range of products, many of which are derived from petrochemicals, is set to rise significantly,” Puri said at the India Chem 2024 event in Mumbai.

He said India’s per capita petrochemical consumption is far below developed nations, which offers opportunities of higher investment in the sector.

India consumes 25 to 30 million metric tons of petrochemical products annually, and the chemical and petrochemicals sector, currently valued at $220 billion, is expected to grow to $300 billion by 2025, Puri said.

India, China and the Middle East have been developing domestic petrochemical production to provide tailwinds to decades of oil refining, even as the world looks to switch to cleaner energy sources.

Indian state-run and private oil companies such as Nayara Energy and Haldia Petrochemicals have already announced plans to boost production.

Puri said companies like Haldia, ONGC and BPCL have committed investments of $45 billion and an additional $100 billion is projected to meet rising demand and align the country’s transition to a lower-carbon future.

He did not specify a timeline for the projected investment.

India’s petrochemicals production is projected to increase from 29.62 million tons to 46 million tons by 2030, he said.