PM Modi exhorts oil firms to step up production

Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi exhorted oil companies on Friday to step up production to enable the country to cut oil imports by 10 per cent by 2022, and urged well-off people to give up subsidised cooking gas connections.

During the first Urja Sangam conference held in the national capital, Modi said plans are afoot to provide piped gas connection to one crore households in the next four years from 27 lakh at present. If imports, which account for a staggering 77 per cent of the demand, are cut by 10 per cent by 2022, the country could look to halving it by 2030, he added. India spent a whopping Rs 189,238 crore on import of crude oil in 2013-14.

Modi said that oil companies need to increase domestic output of energy to reduce dependence on imports. "Our target has to be higher. Only then we can reduce the import ... for that we have to make effort," he said adding that domestic energy companies should aim to become multinationals.

The PM also said that Rs 100 crore in subsidy has been saved by 2.8 lakh people giving up the use of below-market price LPG. "I appeal to those who can buy LPG at market price to please not take subsidised LPG." Since the government started the new scheme of direct benefit transfer for cooking gas, many more people have opted out of the subsidy scheme.