Lok Sabha Question No. 3654 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-24
Subject: Increase in Import Cost of Petroleum Products
Ministry: PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS
Asked by: Behanan Benny

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 3654 TO BE ANSWERED ON 24 th  March, 2022

## Increase in Import Cost of Petroleum Products

3654. SHRI BENNY BEHANAN:

## पेोिलयम और ाकृितक गैस मंी

Will the Minister of PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether there is an increase in import cost of petroleum products by 39.6 per cent during the last five years and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the details of the volume of natural gas imported during the last five years and current year, year-wise, along with the import bills for the respective years;
- (c) whether the recent data revealed that India's natural gas import bill increased by  sixty  one  per  cent  between  April  and  December  2021,  if  so,  the  details thereof; and
- (d)  whether  this  would  impact  the  Government's  plan  to  reduce  crude  oil imports by ten per cent by 2022, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER पेोिलयम और ाकृितक गैस मंालय म राज् य मंी

## ( ी रामेश् वर तेली )

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS (SHRI RAMESWAR TELI)

- (a): To ensure uninterrupted supply of petroleum products in the country, Oil Public Sector Undertakings (OPSUs) import petroleum products to bridge the supply  demand  gap  in  the  domestic  market.  The  import  bill  of  petroleum products  has  increased  by  39.6%  in  2020-21  in  comparison  to  2016-17 primarily due to increase in quantity due to demand growth, price increase in international market and exchange rate changes.
- (b): The details of import of natural gas (quantity as well as value) in the last five years, year-wise, are as under:-

|                                                                                                         | Quantity                                                                                                | Value                                                                                                   | Value                                                                                                   |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                                                         | MMSCM                                                                                                   | US$ (Billion)                                                                                           | Rs. (Crores)                                                                                            |
| 2016-17                                                                                                 | 24849                                                                                                   | 6.1                                                                                                     | 41084                                                                                                   |
| 2017-18                                                                                                 | 27439                                                                                                   | 8.1                                                                                                     | 52122                                                                                                   |
| 2018-19                                                                                                 | 28740                                                                                                   | 10.3                                                                                                    | 71867                                                                                                   |
| 2019-20                                                                                                 | 33887                                                                                                   | 9.5                                                                                                     | 67383                                                                                                   |
| 2020-21                                                                                                 | 33031                                                                                                   | 7.9                                                                                                     | 58129                                                                                                   |
| 2021-22 (April-January) (P)                                                                             | 26785                                                                                                   | 9.9                                                                                                     | 73899                                                                                                   |
| Source: Petroleum Planning &Analysis Cell, (P): Provisional MMSCM: Million Metric Standard Cubic Meters | Source: Petroleum Planning &Analysis Cell, (P): Provisional MMSCM: Million Metric Standard Cubic Meters | Source: Petroleum Planning &Analysis Cell, (P): Provisional MMSCM: Million Metric Standard Cubic Meters | Source: Petroleum Planning &Analysis Cell, (P): Provisional MMSCM: Million Metric Standard Cubic Meters |

(c): The details of import of natural gas in April and December, 2021 are as under:-

| Particulars                                                                                             | April 2021                                                                                              | December 2021                                                                                           | %change from April 2021 to December 2021                                                                |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Value (Billion US$)                                                                                     | 0.77 (P)                                                                                                | 0.90 (P)                                                                                                | +16.9%                                                                                                  |
| Quantity (MMSCM)                                                                                        | 2847 (P)                                                                                                | 2543 (P)                                                                                                | -11%                                                                                                    |
| Source: Petroleum Planning &Analysis Cell, (P): Provisional MMSCM: Million Metric Standard Cubic Meters | Source: Petroleum Planning &Analysis Cell, (P): Provisional MMSCM: Million Metric Standard Cubic Meters | Source: Petroleum Planning &Analysis Cell, (P): Provisional MMSCM: Million Metric Standard Cubic Meters | Source: Petroleum Planning &Analysis Cell, (P): Provisional MMSCM: Million Metric Standard Cubic Meters |

(d): Ministry  of  Petroleum  and  Natural  Gas  works  in  collaboration  with various Central Government  Ministries/State Governments/stakeholders to achieve  reduction  in  import  dependency  on  oil.  Since  2014,  Government  has taken multiple steps to reduce country's oil import dependency through refinery process improvements and various policies under Production Sharing Contract (PSC)  regime,  Discovered  Small  Field  Policy,  Hydrocarbon  Exploration  and Licensing Policy, Setting up of National Data Repository, etc. Government has also provided functional freedom to National Oil Companies and wider private sector  participation  by  streamlining  approval  processes  including  electronic single window mechanism.

Government has launched National Biofuel Policy, 2018, to boost availability of biofuels in country and use of alternative fuels like ethanol, bio-diesel and bioCNG through Ethanol Blending, Bio-diesel blending and Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) initiative respectively.

A Committee was constituted by the Government for 'Preparing a roadmap to reduce the dependency on  import in energy by  10% by  2021-22'.  The report submitted  by  Committee  was  accepted  by  the  Government  which  envisages five-pronged strategy broadly comprising of increasing domestic production of oil  and  gas,  promoting  energy  efficiency  and  conservation  measures,  giving thrust  on  demand  substitution,  capitalizing  untapped  potential  in  biofuels  and other alternate fuels/ renewable and implementing measures for refinery process improvements.

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