The Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP) is delighted to invite you to a seminar titled “bp Energy Outlook 2025 and India Insights” on Tuesday, October 7, 2025, from 3:30 to 4:30 pm (IST) at the CSEP Auditorium, 6, Dr Jose P Rizal Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi – 110021.

The seminar will feature a presentation by Spencer Dale, Chief Economist, bp and Gareth Ramsay, Head of Energy Transition & Systems Analysis, bp, on the Outlook’s findings and what they could mean for the future of energy. The presentation will be followed by a conversation with Rahul Tongia, Senior Fellow, CSEP and Shyamasis Das, Fellow, CSEP. The seminar will be chaired and moderated by Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Distinguished Fellow, CSEP and former Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Government of India.

Please note that it is an in-person event only. If you are in Delhi on the day, please join us for the seminar. The event will be available on the CSEP website and YouTube channel upon completion.

Register here to attend

About the event

bp’s Energy Outlook is the annual exploration of the key trends shaping the future of energy. This year, the bp Energy Outlook will be co-presented by Spencer Dale, bp’s chief economist and Gareth Ramsay, bp’s incoming chief economist. Energy Outlook 2025 looks at the role of emerging economies driving global energy demand growth and evaluates the structure of energy demand changes, with electricity demand doubling by 2050 compared to today. This year, aligned with the evolving global geopolitical landscape, there is a new section focusing on key current issues influencing the energy system, like increasing geopolitical fragmentation. In addition, the Energy Outlook 2025 looks at the implications of a greater focus on energy security, the importance of energy efficiency on energy consumption, and the rapid development and use of AI.

Presenters

Spencer Dale

bp’s chief economist since October 2014, Spencer Dale is responsible for advising the board and leadership team on the global energy system and the energy transition. As SVP economics and energy insights, he manages bp’s economics and energy insights team, which is responsible for bp’s Energy Outlook- the annual exploration of the key trends shaping the future of energy.

Gareth Ramsay

At bp since 2022, Gareth is a senior energy economist with a career spanning global energy analysis and central banking. He takes over as bp’s chief economist and VP economic and energy insights from January 2026. Gareth has led the development of bp’s flagship Energy Outlook, helping to shape the company’s strategic understanding of the global energy system since his joining. Prior to joining bp, Gareth served as an Executive Director at the Bank of England.

Chair & Moderator

Montek Singh Ahluwalia

Montek Singh Ahluwalia is a Distinguished Fellow at CSEP. An economist and civil servant, he was former Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission, Government of India. He joined the Government in 1979 as Economic Adviser in the Ministry of Finance, after which he held a series of positions, including Special Secretary to the Prime Minister; Commerce Secretary; Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs; Finance Secretary in the Ministry of Finance; Member of the Planning Commission and Member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister. In 2001, he was appointed as the first Director of the newly created Independent Evaluation Office of the International Monetary Fund. He resigned from that position in 2004 to take up the position of Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, which he held from 2004 to 2014.

Mr Ahluwalia has been a key figure in Indian economic policy. He writes on various aspects of development economics and has been published in prominent Indian and international journals and books. He co-authored Re-distribution with Growth: An Approach to Policy, which, published in 1975, was a path-breaking book on income distribution. In February 2020, he published his book, Backstage: The Story Behind India’s High Growth Years, an insider’s account of policymaking from 1985 to 2014.

For his outstanding contribution to economic policy and public service, he was conferred the prestigious ‘Padma Vibhushan’ in 2011, India’s 2^nd highest civilian award for exceptional and distinguished service.

Mr Ahluwalia graduated from Delhi University and holds an MA and an MPhil in Economics from Oxford University. He is an Honorary Fellow of Magdalen College Oxford.

Panellists

Rahul Tongia

Rahul Tongia is a Senior Fellow with CSEP, where his work focuses on technology and policy, especially for sustainable development. He co-leads the Energy, Natural Resources, and Sustainability group at CSEP, and is also active in broader issues of technology. Tongia’s work spans the entire gamut of energy and electricity, with focuses on supply options including renewable energy (covering finance, grid integration, etc.); smart grids, which use innovative information and communications technology to improve management of the electric utility grid; issues of access and quality; and broader issues of reforms and regulations, including electricity and energy pricing. Another thread of his work focuses on climate equity and the energy transition. His book Future of Coal in India: Smooth Transition or Bumpy Road Ahead (2020) was awarded a Top Energy Policy Book to read in 2021 by BookAuthority.

He was a pioneer for establishing the Smart Grid space in India and was Technical Advisor of the Government of India’s Smart Grid Task Force, and he remains Founding Advisor of the India Smart Grid Forum (ISGF). He was also on the Technology Advisory Board 2005-2008 for Southern California Edison’s award-winning smart grid rollout. He is also a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering.

Rahul Tongia is Adjunct Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, having originally joined the faculty at CMU in 1998. Previous roles include Vice-Chair of the UN ICT Task Force Working Group on Low-cost connectivity-access/enabling environment and Member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Futures Council on Advanced Energy Technology.

Shyamasis Das

Shyamasis Das is a Fellow in Energy, Resources & Sustainability vertical. He has worked in the corporates, with government development agencies as well as non-governmental organisations. Before joining CSEP, he was closely working with the World Bank and WRI – India as an independent consultant where he was leading several initiatives on electric mobility (electric vehicle (EV)) that included authoring on behalf of the Ministry of Power, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, and NITI Aayog India’s first handbook on EV charging infrastructure, developing the draft Battery Swapping Policy as announced in the 2022 Union Budget speech, and preparing for Indian Railways a 2030-plan for integrating railway assets with public charging infrastructure. Over the past 6 years, he has undertaken extensive primary research dealing with charging infrastructure for different EV segments, vehicle-grid integration, electricity tariffs for EVs, electric bus deployment in public transport, techno-financial performance of public charging stations, and other emerging issues. His previous work spans some of the core and cross-cutting energy and climate change topics including electricity distribution regulations and reforms, demand side management and energy efficiency, DISCOM performance, energy subsidies, climate change mitigation stocktaking, etc. He completed his Master’s in Energy Management from École des Mines de Nantes in France. He is a Charpak Scholar bestowed by the French government.

All content reflects the individual views of the speakers. The Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP) does not hold an institutional view on any subject.

Please contact Gurmeet Kaur at GKaur@csep.org for general queries and Ayesha Manocha at AManocha@csep.org for media queries.