Former Petroleum Minister and BJP parliamentarian from Indore Sumitra Mahajan has accused the Centre of betraying and misleading the common people by showing false figures of deficit on petroleum as the oil companies are distributing bonuses.
Targeting the Centre on Sunday, she also said that the country can save large amount of foreign exchange by becoming self-sufficient in petroleum products.
“We have to spend foreign exchange to the tune of Rs1,800 crore daily on importing petroleum in the country. We could save the precious money if the Oil and Petroleum Ministry could further activate and empower the Hydrocarbon Directorate for giving a boost to oil exploration and petro-production in the country. This would relieve the country from financial constraints,” Mahajan said, adding that self-sufficiency in petroleum production holds the key to development of the country.
Mahajan also pointed out that during the National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) rule at the Centre, a petroleum project was initiated in Rajasthan. “This ambitious project towards creating self-sufficiency in petroleum production was put into cold storage in 2004. The country is paying the prize of this apathy today as the prize of petroleum products is highest in India,” she said.
Castigating the Centre for its alleged short-sighted policies in oil exploration and development of production, Mahajan said that till April 2012, out of 117 oil fields discovered only 11 projects have been given green signal.
“To end the dependency of the country on import of petroleum, it is essential that self-sufficiency in production is progressively increased to 50 per cent by 2020, 75 per cent by 2025 and 100 per cent by 2030. To fill the gap that exists today in production and demand, there is a dire need of political will and determination to achieve the target.