Lok Sabha Question No. 2828 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-12
Subject: Energy Security Fund
Ministry: PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS
Asked by: Shri Dushyant Singh, Shri Devusinh Chauhan

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO- 2828 TO BE ANSWERED ON 12 TH  DECEMBER 2024

## ENERGY SECURITY FUND

## 2828. SHRI DEVUSINH CHAUHAN: SHRI DUSHYANT SINGH:

## पेůोिलयम और ÿाक ृ ितक गैस मंýी

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

(a)  whether  the  Government  has  a  plan  to  set  up  an  Energy  Security  Fund  to  achieve  self sufficiency in the energy sector and if so, the details thereof along with the key objectives and timelines for this initiative and if not, the reasons therefor;

(b)  whether  any  specific  measures  is  being  undertaken  by  the  Government  to  meet  the growing  energy  demands in  the  country,  particularly  in  light  of  increasing  population  and industrial growth, if so, the details thereof; and

(c) the targeted increase in the share of natural gas in India's energy mix by 2030 along with the plan to achieve this target?

## ANSWER

## पेůोिलयम और ÿाक ृ ितक गैस मंýालय म¤ राºयमंýी ( ®ी सुरेश गोपी )

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS (SHRI SURESH GOPI)

(a)  No, There is no plan to set up an energy security fund currently under the consideration of the Government.

(b) India's energy consumption is increasing continuously due to sustained economic growth over the last few years through industrialisation, urbanisation, transportation needs, infrastructure development, rising income, improved standard of living, increased access to modern  energy  coupled  with  increase  in  private  consumption  and  gross  fixed  capital formation, etc. resulting in increasing import of Crude Oil.

Government  has  adopted  a  multi-pronged  strategy  to  achieve  the  self-sufficiency  in  the energy sector which, inter alia, include demand substitution by promoting usage of natural gas  as  fuel/feedstock  across  the  country  towards  increasing  the  share  of  natural  gas  in economy  and  moving  towards  gas  based  economy,  promotion  of  renewable  and  alternate fuels  like  ethanol,  second  generation  ethanol,  compressed  bio  gas  and  biodiesel,  creating electric  vehicle  charging  infrastructure,  refinery  process  improvements,  promoting  energy efficiency and conservation, efforts for increasing production of oil and natural gas through various policies initiatives, etc.

Alongside,  Government  has  been  taking  various  steps  to  boost  domestic  oil  and  gas production which, inter-alia, include:

i. Policy under PSC regime for early monetization of hydrocarbon discoveries, 2014.

ii. Discovered Small Field Policy, 2015.

- iii. Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP), 2016.
- iv. Policy for Extension of PSCs, 2016 and 2017.
- v. Policy for early monetization of Coal Bed Methane, 2017.
- vi. Setting up of National Data Repository, 2017.

vii. Appraisal of Un-appraised areas in Sedimentary Basins under National Seismic Programme, 2017.

- viii.  Policy framework for extension of PSCs for Discovered Fields and Exploration Blocks under Pre-New Exploration Licensing Policy (Pre-NELP), 2016 and 2017.
- ix. Policy to Promote and Incentivize Enhanced Recovery Methods for Oil and Gas, 2018.
- x. Policy Framework for exploration and exploitation of Unconventional Hydrocarbons under Existing  Production  Sharing  Contracts  (PSCs),  Coal  Bed  Methane  (CBM)  Contracts  and Nomination Fields, 2018.
- xi. Natural Gas Marketing Reforms, 2020.
- xii. Lower  Royalty  Rates,  Zero  Revenue  Share  (till Windfall  Gain)  and  no  drilling commitment in Phase-I in OALP Blocks under Category II and III basins to attract bidders.
- xiii. Release of about 1 Million Sq. Km. (SKM) 'No-Go' area in offshore which were blocked for exploration for decades.
- xiv. Government is also acquiring seismic data in onland and offshore areas and supporting drilling of stratigraphic wells to make quality data of Indian Sedimentary Basins available to bidders. Government has approved acquisition of additional 2D Seismic data of 20,000 LKM in onland and 30,000 LKM in offshore beyond Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of India.
- c) The Government has set a target to raise the share of natural gas in energy mix to 15% in 2030. Various steps taken by the Government in this direction include expansion of National Gas Grid Pipeline, expansion of City Gas Distribution (CGD) network, setting up of Liquefied Natural  Gas  (LNG)  Terminals,  allocation  of  domestic  gas  to  Compressed  Natural  Gas (Transport) / Piped Natural Gas (Domestic) CNG(T)/PNG(D), allowing marketing and pricing freedom with a ceiling price to gas produced from high pressure/high temperature areas, deep water & ultra-deep water and from coal seams, Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) initiative to promote Bio-CNG, etc.

With  the  aim  to  create  a  National  Gas  Grid  (One  Nation,  One  Gas  Grid)  and  increase  the availability  of  natural  gas  across  the  country,  Petroleum  and  Natural  Gas  Regulatory  Board (PNGRB) has authorised approximately 33,475 km natural  gas  pipeline  network across the country out of which 24,945 km natural gas pipeline including spur lines, tie-in connectivity, Sub-Transmission Pipelines (STPL) and dedicated pipelines are already operational and a total of 10,805 km length of pipelines is under various stages of construction.

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