Over Next One Decade India will Witness Approx USD 300 Bn Investment in Oil & Gas Sector:Dharmendra Pradhan

India will see an investment of about $300 billion over the next decade in setting up of refineries, oil and gas pipelines and expansion of city gas distribution network as it builds infrastructure to cope with the massive demand surge, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said.

Speaking at KPMG’s ENRich 2018 energy conference here, he said India is the third largest energy consumer in the world after the US and China and its energy demand will grow three-fold by 2040.

According to BP Energy Outlook, India will be the key driver of global energy demand in the next 25 years.

To meet the massive demand, it is building world’s largest oil refinery in Maharashtra at a cost of $40 billion, he said adding about $3 billion is being spent on laying gas pipelines to connect the eastern part of the country to the gas grid.

City gas distribution network to supply CNG to automobiles and piped natural gas to households is being expanded to cover 70 per cent of the population in the next 2-3 years. “Up to 2014, only 66 districts in the country were covered under city gas distribution. Work on 174 districts has begun which will further expand to cover over 400 districts in the next 2-3 years covering 70 per cent of the population and 52 per cent of geography,” he said.