India takes decisive steps to increase household energy production: Hardep Puri

New -Delhi: Petroleum Minister and the Natural Gas, Hardep Singh Puri, on Friday emphasized the steps in India in clean energy and domestic fuel production, while acknowledging that the country still relies on imports to meet its growing energy needs. “We already have 113 compressed biogas (CBG) plants that work and another 73 under construction,” he said of the progress of bio -energy and natural gas space. “If you look at the car models coming on the market, many new CNG is compatible. So it is a success story,” the minister told reporters on the sidelines of Pioneer Biofuels 360 Summit here in the National Capital. The minister pointed out the spread of the liquid petroleum gas (LPG) as another example of progress in energy access. “Today we run against all statistics,” he said. “We have 33.5 crore LPG connections in the country, including 10.5 crore under the Ujjwala Yojana, but we still import about 60 percent of our LPG.” While acknowledging import dependence, Puri again confirmed that the country was taking decisive steps to increase domestic production. “Our refineries are going to produce more. We’re going to do more in exploration and production (E&P),” he said. As far as natural gas is concerned, Minister Puri noted that domestic production is seeing a healthy growth. “Yes, our production is rising by 18 percent a year, but even there we still import about 50 percent,” he said. Minister Puri emphasized the country’s commitment to Atmanirbhar Bharat or self -sufficient India. “A country like India, which has these challenges, is moving towards self -sufficiency, but it’s going to take time,” he said. “In the meantime, we will import, increase our production, and we have already diversified our sources of import.” India is the world’s third largest energy consumer with a demand of about 5.4 million barrels of oil per day. India today imports 80 percent of its oil and 50 percent of its natural gas needs. India is now importing about 40 countries now oil and gas from so many countries to meet its demand.