Guwahati Guwahati: Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday said India’s crude oil consumption will touch six and a half to seven barrels per day in the short to medium term. Speaking at Advantage Assam 2.0, an investor conference organised by the state government, Puri said, “In three and a half years of being associated with this ministry, our crude oil consumption has increased from 5 million barrels per day to five and a half million barrels. My speech notes say it will reach six and a half to seven million per day, not in the long term but in the short to medium term.
Crude oil consumption will increase by 20%, maybe even more and with this, you add all the other developments… Our target of 20% biofuel blending was 2026.” The minister highlighted the relationship between energy consumption and development and said, “Any country, I don’t just mean India, will be evaluated on the basis of its economic performance based on its energy use. I used to say till a few months ago that energy is the backbone of the economy or the lifeline of the economy.”
Further, the minister said, “The PM has set up an ecosystem, and we have reached it… Today, any country that can achieve the biofuel blending target that it had set 6 years ago means something good is happening there… India is currently spending about $150 billion on importing different forms of energy.”
Earlier, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma praised the efforts of the Union Petroleum Ministry and said, “In the last Advantage Assam summit, the Petroleum Ministry had also announced that they will bring a gas grid from Barauni to Numaligarh, again a gas grid of 1600 km.”
