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NEW DELHI - India will make up the biggest share of energy demand growth at 25% over the next two decades, as it overtakes the European Union as the world's third-biggest energy consumer by 2030, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said.

India's energy consumption is expected to nearly double as the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) expands to an estimated $8.6 trillion by 2040 under its current national policy scenario, the IEA said in its India Energy Outlook 2021 released on Tuesday.

"This is underpinned by a rate of GDP growth that adds the equivalent of another Japan to the world economy by 2040," said the IEA, the energy agency and policy adviser for members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

India's growing energy needs will make it more reliant on fossil fuel imports as its domestic oil and gas production has been stagnant for years despite government policies to promote petroleum exploration and production and renewable energy.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Florence Tan and Tom Hogue)