SPEAKING AT the annual convocation ceremony of Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University (PDPU), president and chairman of board of governors (PDPU) Mukesh Ambani, also the chairman of India’s largest petrochemical company, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), positively noted that the state of Gujarat has tremendous potential as far as industrial development is concerned. Citing that Gujarat is already the refining capital of the world, Mukesh Ambani expressed optimism on the likelihood that Gujarat will soon become the automotive hub of the Asia. “If an arid land in Jamnagar can be converted into refining capital of the world, then Gujarat can also become Asia's automotive hub,” said Ambani in his inaugural speech.

The convocation ceremony of India’s well known Petroleum University saw around 409 students from undergraduate and postgraduate programmes of PDPU's constituent schools - School of Petroleum Technology, School of Petroleum Management and School of Nuclear Energy – being conferred  with degrees. Thirteen students were awarded medals for scholastic performance. Mukesh Ambani attended the felicitation ceremony and shared his opinions with the students on the nature and future of petroleum sector of India and the scope of development of the same in Gujarat.

Mukesh Ambani, along with Chief Minister of Gujarat and chief guest of the ceremony, Narendra Modi, agreed to the fact that the need of the hour is to use technology to resolve energy crisis. Stating that energy was the future of the world, Mukesh Ambani said, “Globally, we need 17 billion tones of oil equivalent by 2030. And to fulfill this demand, India and China need to increase energy production by six times by 2030”. He also added that in the next 20 years, energy consumption will be much higher and to match up to the rising demand, inspired innovation in the field is called for. Mukesh Ambani stated that PDPU students need to undertake a lot of research on solar and bio-fuels, as renewable energy is the future of the world and to stay ahead of the competition, “We need to do research on energy and PDPU should play a leading role in the same,” said the chairman of RIL.