India is the world‟s fourth-largest energy consumer with oil and gas accounting for 37.3 percent of total energy consumption. The country has 5.6 billion barrels of proven oil reserves and 1,330 bcm of gas reserves and produced only 47.6 bcm of gas in 2012. The high economic growth in the past few years and increasing industrialization coupled with a burgeoning population have created a lot of concern for India’s energy scenario.
India has 0.5% of the oil and gas resources of the world and 15% of the world’s population. This makes India heavily dependent on the import of the crude oil and natural gas. India’s crude oil production has not shown significant growth in the last 10 or more years whereas its refining capacity has grown by more than 20% over the last 5 years. Oil consumption is growing at approximately 4.1% per year and natural gas consumption at 68% per year.
The fact that India has not made any major breakthroughs in the field of renewable sources of energy, oil and natural gas would continue to hold a place of key importance in India’s economy.
The new Government is giving thrust on some of the key ease of doing business parameters like setting up a fully functional single-window system for all clearances, reforming labour laws and easing the land acquisition rules which would give necessary push to ‘Make in India’.
