India can produce crude oil at one fourth of import price: Anil Agarwal

New Delhi, Jul 19: India can produce crude oil at one-fourth of the import price if the government allows more private sector participation in exploration and production, Anil Agarwal, chairman, of Vedanta Ltd said in a statement.

 

 

 

The billionaire, who heads the metals and energy conglomerate, has been making a case for higher private sector participation to optimally utilize the country’s natural resources. On Monday, the Indian rupee hit a fresh low of 79.98 against the US dollar, a day after the country's trade deficit hit an all-time high as crude oil and coal imports, among other things, rose.

 

 

 

“India can produce oil at 1/4th of import price similar to Cairn providing Oil at $26 to the government,” Agarwal said.

“Our economic growth is powered by a combination of legacy industries and start-ups. Encouraging our start-ups and entrepreneurs to put their energy into the work without fear and hurdles will create massive jobs and massive revenue for the government.” He said that these entrepreneurs should be encouraged to do exploration with the latest technologies like artificial intelligence, automation, and data analytics, backed by funds from private equity, and may later sell their licenses post-discovery. “It is becoming critical for India to liberalize its exploration and production policy for a wide range of metals, rare metals, minerals, and hydrocarbons. India is gifted with significant reserves of metals and minerals but it is ironic that we continue to pay a hefty import bill year after year. All these metals have a crucial role to play in the coming decades because of their widespread application in building cutting-edge technologies,” Agarwal said. This is not the first time Agarwal has made a case for the urgent need for India to work on energy security, by providing a level playing field to domestic oil and gas companies and opening up coal mining to accelerate production. “Robust domestic production will also insulate us from any global crisis, encourage entrepreneurship, create a large number of jobs and create a vibrant ecosystem,” Agarwal said in the latest statement.

 

Also Read: India's mineral production rises by 10.9% 

 

Agarwal said that the government should make the mine leases for a minimum of 50 years so that Indian and foreign companies can plan and execute well. He also suggested that existing mines, which were explored by the private sector but where work has been stopped, should be given back to them.