India has set a target to double its oil production and exploration acreages to increase domestic production of oil and gas and cut reliance on imported oil, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri said in New Delhi last week.

He said while oil acreage area would be increased to 0.5 million square kilometres by 2025, it would be increased to one million square kilometres by 2030, the minister claimed while addressing the World Energy Policy Summit.

Presently, more than 85 per cent of its oil needs and half of its gas requirements are met through import. The government has already managed to double its acreage through seven rounds of the auction of oil acreage under the New Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP), the minister said.

The Indian economy is likely to touch $5 trillion by 2025 and $10 trillion by 2030 from the current $3 trillion which would further increase India’s oil demand, he said.

“By 2050, as per projections by BP Energy outlook, India’s shares in global energy demand is expected to double from the current six per cent to 12 per cent, accounting for over a quarter of net global primary energy demand growth,” Puri said.

The government is also planning to increase India’s natural gas share from the current six per cent to 15 per cent by 2030 and also stressing on ethanol blending through a series of progressive reforms to increase it to 20 per cent by 2025, the minister said.

“Our focus is also on the faster deployment of green hydrogen and developing India as a hub of green hydrogen. Our oil and gas companies are developing projects for use of hydrogen as fuel and infusion of hydrogen in gas pipelines as well,” he added.

THE STATESMAN (INDIA)/ASIA NEWS NETWORK