Gas Availability Changing the Face of Industrial India: Murli Deora

(PIB NEWS) The challenge before the Indian economy is to raise the share of manufacturing sector in GDP from 16 per cent to 22 per cent in order to attain and sustain an annual GDP growth of 9 per cent, Mr. Anand Sharma, Union Ministry for Commerce and Industry, said here today.Inaugurating the 6th Asia Gas Partnership Summit, Mr. Sharma said that in order to reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuels and high level of crude oil imports, gas will have to be the major energy source. Energy security was an imperative, he said, urging the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to adopt a consortium approach in bidding for overseas oil and gas projects.
“There is an urgent need to substantially augment the oil and gas exploratory efforts and improve the recovery rates,” the Minister said. He also said that while bio-fuels constituted an important segment of the renewable energy sources being developed by India, it was imperative to tread with caution and ensure that land for food grains production was not diverted to feed the bio-fuels sector. Mr. Murli Deora, Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas, informed the delegates that LNG infrastructure in the country was being expanded. The capacity of Dahej terminal has been doubled last year. The work at Kochi LNG terminal is underway. Dabhol terminal would be commissioned soon. “So the LNG regasification capacity in the country would reach a level of 20 mmtpa by the year 2011-12”, he informed. The Minister also informed about the major gas transport infrastructure additions underway in the country. He said that gas pipelines of 7450 Kms Length and 248 Million Standard Cubic Metre per day (MMSCMD) capacity would be added. The present natural gas transportation infrastructure in the country comprises around 10800 Kms. of pipelines with a capacity of around 270 MMSCMD. Shri Deora said that the increased availability of natural gas from KG basin is set to transform our city gas sector. Today, about 40 cities & towns are covered by CNG. “We intend to develop city gas in more than 200 more cities. Piped Natural Gas (PNG) in a greater number of big cities and metros would help us to divert LPG supplies to our rural areas,” Shri Deora said. Mr. Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy and Industry, Qatar, underlined the need for reform in gas production, distribution and transportation. He stressed the critical importance of improving energy statistics, especially demand forecasts in the emerging developing countries. Of equal importance, he said, was the need to balance growth objectives with the need to protect the environment. Above all, there was the imperative of a continuous dialogue between gas producers and consumers to develop a better understanding. Mr. S. Sundareshan, Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, spelt out the key challenges in the gas sector. One, the need to reach the gas pipeline network to every corner of the country as regional disparities loom large in gas distribution and two, the need to move to a situation where the domestic gas is available equitably at an almost uniform price irrespective of the source. He said that 50 per cent of the Indian population was today covered by the LPG connections. Over the decade India has built up a large refining capacity. Other prominent experts and CEOs from Oil and Gas Industry also spoke during the inaugural session.
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