Emerging markets don't just participate in global growth. They generate it. New consumer markets absorb the products that keep factories running in Stuttgart and Shenzhen, fast-moving industries deliver returns that mature economies struggle to match, and local entrepreneurs build solutions that redefine how finance, logistics and healthcare operate at scale. The question is no longer whether these nations will lead long-term growth, but whether the foundations are in place to sustain it.
Finding the right answer is now more urgent than ever, as the International Energy Agency expects emerging markets to account for about 80 per cent of global electricity demand growth in the coming years, fuelled by wide-scale industrialisation and electrification, unlocking unprecedented opportunities for domestic development and foreign investment. Without the right energy systems, these evolving economies are put at significant risk, as are the livelihoods of billions and the stability of the global landscape.
Here in India, where electricity demand is forecast to rise by an average of 6.4 per cent a year through 2030, this is an immediate priority. The security of our energy supply and the resilience of our power infrastructure will define the country’s capacity to sustain growth amid heightened geopolitical uncertainty and continuous technological transformation. As Viksit Bharat 2047 approaches, India must ensure that its future is backed by a mature and resilient energy compact, with cables, storage facilities, terminals and pipelines built before demand becomes distress.
The recent crisis in West Asia has sharpened the urgent need for such efforts and investments. The near-total closure of the Strait of Hormuz cut off a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies for over three months and pushed Brent crude close to 120 dollars a barrel. While emergency reserves and proactive policy interventions helped cushion the shock, the disruption made plain that energy security and economic performance depend not on reaction, but on preparation. While in many countries the supply and price shocks were exacerbated, in India, not a single retail outlet ran dry; every Indian kitchen had its cylinder, and the Indian consumer saw the smallest price impact of any major economy. This was achieved across every fuel through a layered, consumer-first response: control orders within days, a sharp lift in domestic production, an excise cushion on petrol and diesel, aggressive supply diversification and energy diplomacy, a whole-of-government demand-management effort, and a deliberate decision to let the State and the public sector marketing companies absorb the cost rather than pass it to the household. It rests on a decade of investment in terminals, pipelines, refining capacity, strategic reserves and source diversification that turned a structural vulnerability into a managed event.
While India also undertook to diversify its sourcing of energy to over 40 countries, New Delhi’s relationship with the world’s energy leaders, such as the UAE, carries ever-greater importance. Both committed to enhancing supply security and driving the energy transformation forward, New Delhi and Abu Dhabi are enhancing cooperation across crude, LNG, and LPG to strengthen supply diversification and deliver the reliable power required to sustain economic expansion into the next decade. Such global partnerships are no longer optional, as the IEA predicts that India will become the largest source of global oil demand growth between now and 2030, while forecasting India’s natural gas consumption to rise by nearly 60 per cent by 2030. Greater emphasis on strategic reserves was highlighted during PM Modi’s 8th visit to Abu Dhabi, as the war was raging on in the Middle East.
The world’s fastest-growing economy, India, offers a unique lens through which we can understand the rapidly rising energy needs of emerging markets. Yet, across the Global South, each nation faces its own pressures on the road to building more secure and dependable energy systems. What unites them is the fundamental reality that energy resilience is now a development imperative - countries that build stronger grids, deeper reserves and more reliable supply routes can attract foreign investment and protect both industries and households from external shocks. India, as the credible Voice of Global South and propagator of a responsible Neighbourhood First Policy, helped Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Nepal with emergency supplies despite its own gigantic needs and successful diplomacy that allowed the passage of Indian ships through the strait and elsewhere.
Of course, no country can build this resilience in isolation. The scale of the challenge now demands closer alignment between producers and consumers, between long-term capital and national priorities, and between government policy and commercial execution. For emerging markets, the real test is whether that alignment can be forged quickly enough to turn energy demand into durable growth rather than strategic vulnerability.
It is for this very reason that focused energy security initiatives and platforms tend to help and guide countries. ADIPEC is one of the world’s largest energy conferences and exhibitions, and convenes the global energy industry with a focus on strengthening global energy systems. Next edition in Abu Dhabi (November 2-5) seeks to provide an inclusive platform for government leaders and industry executives from key emerging markets to connect with international partners and secure future growth through long-term supply deals and future-ready infrastructure. As always, India is set to deploy a major presence at this year’s event, signalling a continued commitment to leading from the front.
But India's continued engagement also reflects a larger truth. For emerging markets, strong growth will mean little if the systems beneath it are too brittle to withstand disruption. Energy security must therefore be treated not as a safeguard at the margins, but as part of the basic architecture of economic strength. With India, the contrast to the rest of the world is the clearest measure of the dividend of a decade of energy-security investment and of strategic autonomy in practice.
That reality will matter far beyond India or the Gulf. In the years ahead, the condition of emerging-market energy systems will influence not only national prosperity but the steadiness of the global economy itself. If those foundations are built with foresight, growth will be more secure across the board. If they are not, instability will travel far beyond the markets where it begins.
Anil Trigunayat is a former Indian Ambassador to Jordan, Libya and Malta. Presently, he is a Distinguished Fellow with Vivekananda International Foundation and United Services Institution of India. All views expressed are personal
Source: Economic Times of India
