Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Sunday highlighted significant progress in India’s energy sector, noting that 10.6 crore households now cook with affordable LPG, while 67 million people visit fuel stations daily, making India the world’s third-largest consumer of oil and LPG.

Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, Puri emphasised that India is building a secure, sustainable, and self-reliant energy future, spanning deepwater exploration, green hydrogen, and bioenergy. The country is also the fourth-largest LNG importer and a major refining hub, with 5.5 million barrels of oil consumed daily. “Energy is more than fuel — it powers industries, connects people, and drives the aspirations of 1.42 billion Indians,” he said.

Highlighting reforms in the oil and gas sector, the minister noted that oil refining capacity has increased from 215 to 258 million metric tonnes per annum, and Jamnagar has become Asia’s largest refinery, exporting petroleum products to over 100 countries.

In upstream exploration, the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) Round 10 has opened 2.5 lakh sq km for further exploration, while the number of clearances required for exploration has been reduced from 37 to 18, facilitating ease of doing business. Over $1.3 billion has been invested to boost oil exploration and production.

India has witnessed a surge in oil and gas exploration, including the opening of nearly one million sq km of previously restricted offshore areas in 2022. Since 2015, Exploration and Production companies in India have reported 172 hydrocarbon discoveries, including 62 offshore.

Puri highlighted the geological potential of the Andaman-Nicobar (AN) Basin, located at the junction of the Indian and Burmese plates within the Bengal-Arakan sedimentary system. The region’s tectonic and stratigraphic features are conducive to hydrocarbon accumulation and have attracted global attention following significant gas discoveries in South Andaman offshore Indonesia, suggesting geological continuity across the region.

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