Lok Sabha Question No. 558 (STARRED), answered on 2026-04-02
Subject: Crude Oil Import Dependence and PSU Investments
Ministry: PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS
Asked by: Shri Ramprit Mandal

## CRUDE OIL IMPORT DEPENDENCE AND PSU INVESTMENTS

*558.   SHRI RAMPRIT MANDAL:

## पेट Ō ोिलयम और Ůाक ृ ितक गैस मंũी

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

- (a) whether the Government is aware that despite the substantial resources of major Public Sector Undertakings  (PSUs)  such  as  Oil  and  Natural  Gas  Corporation  Limited  and  Indian  Oil Corporation Limited, the country's dependence on crude oil imports remains around Eighty Five percent and if so, the details of steps taken by the Government to reduce the same;
- (b)  the  details  of  expenditure  made  by  Bharat  Petroleum  Corporation  Limited  and  Hindustan Petroleum  Corporation  Limited  on  refinery  capacity  expansion  and  green  energy  investments during the last three years, year-wise; and
- (c) whether petroleum PSUs have  been directed to invest heavily in green hydrogen and biofuel projects and if so, the details and current status thereof along with the progress of such projects?

## ANSWER

## पेट Ō ोिलयम और Ůाक ृ ितक गैस मंũी ( ŵी हरदीप िसंह पुरी )

MINISTER OF PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS (SHRI HARDEEP SINGH PURI)

- (a) to (c) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT  REFFERED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (c)  OF  LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *558 BY SHRI RAMPRIT MANDAL TO BE ANSWERED ON 2 ND   APRIL, 2026 REGARDING 'CRUDE OIL IMPORT DEPENDENCE AND PSU INVESTMENTS'

- (a)  As  per  data  published  by  the Petroleum  Planning  and  Analysis  Cell (PPAC),  the  import dependence  of  crude  oil  [on  Petroleum,  Oil  and  Lubricants  (POL)  consumption  basis]  has remained  broadly  at  approximately  88%  during  the  last  three  financial  years,  with  marginal variations year to year.

The high dependence on crude oil imports is primarily driven by rapid growth in energy demand that is outstripping domestic production. India's energy consumption has increased steadily due to sustained economic growth, urbanization, and rising requirements across key sectors such as transport, petrochemicals and other industry etc.

As per the World Energy Outlook published by the International Energy Agency (IEA), India is set  to  be  the largest  contributor  to  incremental  global  energy  demand  growth in  the  coming decades,  accounting  for  approximately 20-30%  of  the  increase  in  global  energy  demand  by 2050, under various  scenarios.  Further,  the  country's  oil  demand  is  projected  to  rise  from  the current level of around 5.5 million barrels per day (mb/d) to upto 8.5-10.5 mb/d over the same period.

To increase domestic production and reduce the import dependence, Government of India have set the following targets for domestic production as part of Viksit Bharat 2047 vision:

| Year                         |   2025 |   2030 |   2047 |
|------------------------------|--------|--------|--------|
| Crude Oil Production (MMT)   |     29 |     35 |    100 |
| Natural Gas Production (BCM) |     36 |     45 |    100 |

The Government have also adopted a multi-pronged strategy to reduce the import dependency on crude oil  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, 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. For promoting the use of Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) as automotive fuel, Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) initiative has also been launched.

Further, Government have been taking various steps to boost domestic oil and gas production and reduce dependence on crude oil imports, which, inter-alia, include the following:

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 spending about Rs.7500 Cr. for acquisition of seismic data in onland and  offshore  areas  and  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.

The Government have also been promoting various alternative fuels in the petroleum sector, which inter-alia include Compressed  Natural Gas (CNG),  Piped Natural Gas (PNG), Compressed Bio  Gas  (CBG)  and  Ethanol  blended  Petrol.  Under  the  Ethanol  Blended  Petrol (EBP)  Programme,  Oil  Marketing  Companies  (OMCs)  sell  petrol  blended  with  ethanol  and under  the  'Sustainable  Alternative  Towards  Affordable  Transportation'  (SATAT)  initiative, Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) is marketed along with Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).

- (b) The details of year-wise expenditure made by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and  Hindustan  Petroleum  Corporation  Limited  (HPCL)  on  refinery  capacity  expansion  during the last three years are as under:

|   S.No. | Financial Year (FY)   |   Expenditure incurred HPCL (in Rs Cr) |   Expenditure incurred by BPCL (in Rs Cr) |
|---------|-----------------------|----------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
|       1 | 2023-24               |                                   3832 |                                     15.43 |
|       2 | 2024-25               |                                   1777 |                                   1759    |
|       3 | 2025-26               |                                   2564 |                                   2661    |

The details of the year-wise green energy investments made by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited  (BPCL)  and  Hindustan  Petroleum  Corporation  Limited  (HPCL)  during  the  last  three years are as under:

|   S.No | Financial Year (FY)   |   Expenditure incurred by HPCL (in Rs Cr) |   Expenditure incurred by BPCL (in Rs Cr) |
|--------|-----------------------|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
|      1 | 2022-23               |                                   2004.84 |                                     47.98 |
|      2 | 2023-24               |                                   2466.6  |                                    116.8  |
|      3 | 2024-25               |                                   1981.8  |                                    162.55 |

- (c)  India  has  formally  committed  to  achieving  net-zero  carbon  emissions  by  2070  and  the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas aligns its policies, programmes and sectoral initiatives with  this  national  commitment.  Government  is  implementing  a  range  of  policy  measures  and initiatives  including  promotion  of  biofuels,  adoption  of  cleaner  fuels,  which  collectively contribute towards emission reduction and the long-term Net Zero objective.

In line with India's energy transition goals, oil and gas companies are adopting several methods to decarbonize their operations and value chain, such as advancing renewable hydrogen projects, renewable  energy  sources,  adopting  cleaner  technologies,  and  tapping  low-carbon  energy sources.

The Government have promoted blending of ethanol in petrol under the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP)  Programme.  The  National  Policy  on  Biofuels  -  2018,  as  amended  in  2022,  inter-alia, advanced  the  target  of  20%  blending  of  ethanol  in  petrol  from  2030  to  Ethanol  Supply  Year (ESY)  2025-26  (1st  November,  2025  to  31st  October,  2026).  This  target  of  20%  has  been achieved in December, 2025 (5 years before the initial target year) due to the concerted efforts of Government that have led to  increased ethanol blending with petrol from 38 crore litres in ESY 2013-14 to over 1000 crore litres in ESY 2024-25.

Under the Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition-2B (SIGHT-2B) mode of the National Green Hydrogen Mission (NGHM), refineries have been allocated 200 KTPA of green hydrogen  procurement  capacity,  of  which  PSU  refineries  have  been  assigned  a  target  of  170 KTPA, up to 2030. Following a phased approach, PSU refineries have floated tenders for 42

KTPA of green hydrogen capacity. Out of this, IOCL (10 KTPA), BPCL (5 KTPA), and HPCL (5  KTPA) have already  awarded contract.  Under  this  Mission,  the  discovered  Costs  of  Green Hydrogen through competitive bidding are INR 397 per kg (inclusive of 18% GST) for supply to the refinery of Indian Oil Corporation Limited and INR 387 per kg (inclusive of 18% GST) for supply  to  the  refineries  of  Bharat  Petroleum  Corporation  Limited  and  Hindustan  Petroleum Corporation Limited.

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