But he added: "We are taking steps to moderate the intensity of energy use. So actually, growth of energy is much less than growth of GDP."

A Reuters survey showed that India's economic growth was expected to slow down to 8.5 percent in 2007/08 from an estimated 9.2 percent in financial year 2007 as monetary tightening and supply side constraints start impacting industry.

Ahluwalia made his remarks at the opening of Japan-India energy talks in Tokyo, where he met his Japanese counterpart, Trade Minister Akira Amari.

The first session of the bilateral energy talks, which focused on energy-saving measures to curb energy demand, followed a similar move between Tokyo and Beijing earlier in April, amid growing concerns over global warming.

India's primary energy demand would increase by 6 percent a year, without giving breakdowns for oil, coal or natural gas, Ahluwalia was quoted as saying by Kiyoshi Mori, an official with the Japanese trade ministry, after attending the meeting.

India's oil demand in 2007 is expected to rise by 3.4 percent from last year to about 2.7 million barrels per day (bpd), the West's energy watchdog International Energy Agency, said in its latest monthly Oil Market Report.

The focus of the joint statement signed by Ahluwalia and Amari was similar to the pact sealed by India and China -- two of Asia's fastest-growing economies -- with Japan, in which they would cooperate with Tokyo to conserve energy and to use coal in a cleaner way.

Coal, blamed for emitting more greenhouse gases than oil and gas, accounts for the largest part of India's and China's primary energy needs.