Manohar Parrikar in his keynote address called upon the industry to play a significant role in accomplishment of national security as well as the nation’s quest for self reliance. Minister appreciated the role of DRDO in supporting the efforts of the Navy in achieving their goals towards indigenization and lauded the efforts put in by the Indian Navy and CII for their efforts in supporting the nation’s thrust on “Make in India”. Hon’ble Raksha Mantri also released the document titled “Indian Naval Indigenisation Plan (INIP) and released the compendium of technical papers of seminar”.The gathering was also addressed by Shri Sukaran Singh and Shri Anil Ambani who gave the industry perspective of Innovation and Indigenisation. Ms Shubhra Singh JS, DIPP also addressed the gathering during the inaugural session.

The seminar is spread over two days and is being attended by senior Government Officials, leaders from Ship Building Industry, Captains of Indian Industry and members of Academia besides officers from all the armed forces. More than 300 hundred dignitaries from over 120 industries are participating in the seminar. Four Sessions for presentation of technical papers have been scheduled in the programme over two days. Papers on ‘Synergy amongst stakeholders in Indigenisation’, ‘Innovation for Self Reliance’ ‘Challenges in induction of Indigenous Systems’ etc would be presented by speakers from IN, DPSUs, industry and academia.

While exhorting the industry captains present to strengthen the country’s oil & gas sector the Shri Pradhan congratulated the two companies in the private sector and five in the public sector as well as the individuals who received the awards. Shri Dharmendra Pradhan commended the apex hydrocarbon industry association, PetroFed for instituting the awards in 2007 to recognise and nurture talent and excellence in the oil & gas industry operating in India. He emphasized on the need to enhance domestic production of oil & gas and achieve the target of reducing import dependence by 10% by 2022.

Minister on the occasion also released The Oil & Gas Year 2015 publication on India. The book tells the story of a transition in the making and addresses the steps taken across the country’s energy value chain over the past year.The Secretary, Petroleum & Natural Gas, Shri K. D. Tripathi lauded the PetroFed initiative and while congratulating the award winners urged industry members to diligently work towards enhancing energy security of the country by augmenting production of oil & gas and improving energy efficiency.Welcoming invitees Chairman, PetroFed and Chairman, Indian Oil Shri B. Ashok highlighted the need for keeping the spirit of healthy competition alive through such awards. We can take pride in the fact, he said, that with an expected growth of 7.5%, India, for the first time is leading the growth chart of the World Bank for major economies.

While giving a brief about the awards the Director General, PetroFed Shri A. K. Arora pointed out that the awards were reviewed every year for improvement and all companies operating in India in the oil & gas sector were eligible without any application fee. At the suggestion of the Jury in 2014 a new award, which could be a game changer, was instituted. A Special Commendation Award, he added, is conferred to encourage closely competing entries.All awardees were presented a trophy and a citation. Indian Oil Corporation Limited bagged the Leading Oil & Gas Corporate of the Year award for the fourth time in eight years. It also bagged the Oil & Gas Marketing – Company of the Year and the Human Resources Management – Company of the Year awards. In the new award category, Game Changer – Oil & Gas Company of the Year, they were conferred a Special Commendation jointly with LanzaTech Inc. in recognition of their special effort for ‘Pioneering R&D’ in production of omega fatty acids by algae using acetates produced by fermentation of carbon dioxide. The Woman Executive of the Year award was bagged by Ms. Mamoni Basumatary, Senior Manager (Technical Services) from IndianOil’s Guwahati Refinery. In addition to a trophy and a citation she also received a cash award of Rs. one lakh.

The Innovator of the Year – Team award was bagged by the eight-member team of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited for their indigenous development and commercial application of cost effective gasoline sulphur reduction catalyst additive for Fluid Catalytic Cracking using spent FCC catalyst in refineries. The team was led by the Head of their Corporate R&D Centre, Shri Sanjay Bhargava and each member of the team received a cash prize of Rs. 62,500/-. In the Innovator of the Year – Individual category a Special Commendation was conferred on Shri Gnana Kumaraswamy Batta, Senior Geophysicist, Oil India Limited for his innovation on utilising low frequency seismic data interpretation for locating subsurface oil & gas and reducing exploration risk. Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Limited won the awards for Exploration & Production – Company of the Year and Project Management (Rs. 500-2000 crore) for their Cluster-7 project involving construction and installation of five new well platforms at Mumbai High Offshore and laying of 19 segments of rigid sub-sea pipelines of about 198 km with associated modification at existing platforms and a new Pipeline End Manifold.

The Oil & Gas Pipeline Transportation – Company of the Year award was bagged by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited while the Environmental Sustainability – Company of the Year was chosen to be Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited.For the second year in succession no award was conferred for Drilling Services – Company of the Year. No application was received for Project Management (above Rs. 2000 crore) – Company of the Year award.It was explained at the function that the award winners were selected through a rigorous process of collation by knowledge partner PricewaterhouseCoopers, evaluation by the Awards Committee led by Dr. Prodipto Ghosh, Distinguished Fellow, TERI and former Secretary to the Government of India, and selection thereafter by an eminent Jury headed by the former Chief Justice of India, Hon’ble Mr. Justice M. N. Venkatachaliah. The other two members of the Jury are Dr. Anil Kakodkar, former Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission and Shri Naresh Narad, former Chairman, Public Enterprises Selection Board and Secretary to the Government of India.Concluding the proceedings and proposing a vote of thanks, Shri P. Raghavendran, Vice Chairman, PetroFed and President (Refinery Business), Reliance Industries Limited highlighted the objectivity and competitive fervour of the PetroFed Awards

Given the high number of footfall at the hospital premises every day, and considering that nearly 33 lakh patient and their attendants visited AIIMS last year, Shri Nadda said that it was indeed a challenge to keep the premises clean and hygienic. This needed creating awareness among the visitors on the importance of their contribution in keeping the institution clean and hygienic. “Keeping any institution such as AIIMS clean on a daily basis is a herculean task and needs the cooperation and partnership of various stakeholders including those visiting it”, the Minister noted. We can also involve NGOs in this effort, he stated.  Health Minister commended the Energy conservation initiative at AIIMS, New Delhi being taken up with the support of the Japan Government. He also suggested to have an environment audit conducted in order to assess the benefits from the efforts being made.Speaking at the function, Shri B P, Sharma, Secretary (HFW) stated that any innovation at AIIMS in maintaining cleanliness and hygienic environment at the institution and the premises on a sustained basis will set an example for other institutions across the country to emulate.Shri Nadda also unveiled the Clean and Green campaign logo which includes the seven tasks enlisted under the Kayakalp guidelines, as seven green leaves.

The Prime Minister called for constant updating of training programmes and syllabi to ensure that the youth is exposed to latest technology and industry environment. He said the Government would work to promote both apprenticeship and entrepreneurs. He said it is important to predict the possibilities of the future, and prepare for them today itself.The Prime Minister unveiled the Skill logo, launched the National Skill Development Mission, and Released the National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, 2015. He also launched the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana and Skill Loan Scheme. The Prime Minister felicitated the six Indian medal winners of the World Skill Oceania competition.Union Ministers Shri Arun Jaitley, Shri Manohar Parrikar, Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Shri Suresh Prabhu, Shri Ananth Kumar, Shri JP Nadda, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, Shri Anant Geete, Shri Piyush Goyal, and Shri Thaawar Chand Gehlot were present on the occasion.