New Delhi: The Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Gas, led by Congress Lok Sabha member Sunil Dattatrey Tatkare, cautioned, on Wednesday that despite delays in various major projects related to energy infrastructure, “the dependence on imported crude oil” has continued to “rise” because of “no significant increase in the country’s production of crude oil and gas” in the recent years.
The sixth report of the Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Gas in Parliament, underlined: “There is no significant increase in the production of crude oil and gas.”
The committee observed that, despite ongoing exploration activity, “there has been no new important oil field discovered,” and emphasised the need to increase exploration in the relatively under-explored areas. While mentioning the Andaman Basin, the report termed it as “a potential petroleum prolific basin,” and added that the ongoing exploration activity there was “long overdue and bodes well for the future energy production of the country.” While appreciating the government’s plan to conduct a deep-water seismic survey in the Andaman offshore and India’s Extended Continental Shelf, the committee emphasised that these plans ought to be carried out “in the right earnest” with adequate funding support.
Regarding Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, it is appreciated that more than 10.33 crore LPG connections have been distributed, but the report on the contrary mentioned that “There are many poor households in this country, still, they are unable to derive benefit from the PMUY Scheme for different reasons. The LPG utilisation by subsidised consumers is not a significant measure, though heavy subsidies are provided to them. The per capita LPG consumption is almost at the same level in 2024-25, as it was in 2020-21.” The reasons for it should be found out, and promotion for using 5kg and 10kg LPG should be done.
Emphasising the importance of energy security, the committee further emphasised that the establishment of the Strategic Petroleum Reserves is aimed at protecting the nation against supply chain disruptions. The committee also noted that though the nation currently has enough stock for 74 days, including industry stocks, the government needs to work towards meeting the international standard of maintaining enough oil for 90 days. “A lot of money has already been spent on the construction of Strategic Oil Caverns, and the government needs to make sure these are filled as early as possible,” the committee emphasised.
It also pointed out ongoing delays in the North East Gas Grid scheme and labelled this “a critical infrastructural project, to connect this region with the national gas grid.” It expressed concern “that an important infrastructural project is running behind its completion schedule” and stated that “completion of gas pipeline projects must be given high priority as a national issue.”
On the issue of challenges in acquiring land on which the pipeline projects would be constructed, the committee reported: “Resistance from farmers and landowners has become one of the factors causing delay and an increase in the cost of constructing pipelines. The legal framework underlying the right of use of pipeline infrastructure has become obsolete, and the process of compensation is no longer acceptable to farmers and landowners from the viewpoint of the current perspective.
The committee advised the government to enact appropriate legislation governing compensation in order not to alienate the communities in such a way that would affect the implementation and stability of such projects. In summary, it was important for the necessary reforms and investments to come at the right time if the energy scenarios in both China and India were to be improved and protected against global shocks.