Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday said India had so far successfully navigated disruptions to crude oil and natural gas supplies caused by the West Asia crisis and disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, but acknowledged that the global energy situation remained challenging.
He also stated that every challenge has an opportunity in it, and that has to be utilised.
“So far we have navigated that uncertainty. In fact, I would say we have insulated ourselves from the turbulence,” Puri said while speaking about the country’s energy security at an event organised by the Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
“Going forward, it constitutes a challenge. But I can assure you, we won’t let things get out of control,” the minister said.
Addressing concerns over international supply chain disruptions, Puri said there was no global shortage of energy as such, with around 104 million barrels of crude available daily against global consumption of about 94 million barrels.
He said the principal challenge was logistics and distribution, particularly through volatile transit routes such as the Strait of Hormuz.
The current distribution of routes and the West Asia crisis are impacting 40 per cent of energy movement, he pointed out.
However, the minister said, “Every challenge, every crisis, poses a challenge. Every challenge has in it an opportunity, and that opportunity we will utilise.”
Puri said India had diversified its crude sourcing network to 41 countries from 27 earlier, thereby reducing its exposure to disruptions in any particular region.
The minister said Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, three of India’s major energy suppliers, are located in or around the conflict zone caused by the war on Iran.
Puri also pointed to the risks involved in rerouting crude shipments also through the Red Sea, as Houthi attacks could pose a threat to shipping lines in the region.
He identified LPG availability as his most critical concern, particularly as India’s dependence on LPG has increased sharply with the number of domestic connections rising from 14 crore in 2014 to 33.5 crore.
To strengthen supplies, India has raised daily domestic LPG production from 34,000 metric tonnes to 54,000 metric tonnes, while also encouraging consumers to switch to alternative sources where possible, he said, hinting at renewables.
Puri said the government’s approach was to ensure “availability at all times along with affordability”, and recalled that central excise duties on fuel were cut on three occasions — in November 2021, May 2022 and March 10, 2026.
He said the last reduction brought down petrol and diesel prices by Rs 10 per litre, he said.
While public sector oil marketing companies were facing under-recoveries of around Rs 530 crore a day, the government provided financial support to them, Puri said.
He said India’s energy demand was currently growing at three times the global average, driven by the country’s robust economic performance.
The petroleum sector contributes about 19 per cent of total tax revenues, and any destabilisation in energy management could have a significant impact on the wider economy, he said.
Meanwhile, Puri said the GOBARdhan (Galvanising Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan) Scheme will be unveiled on October 1.
The scheme is a unified national circular bioenergy initiative backed by a Rs 23,731 crore outlay to convert cattle dung, crop residue, and municipal organic waste into clean Compressed Biogas (CBG) and organic manure.
