New Delhi: Captains of global oil industry on Monday gave their thumbs up to the transformation in the sector brought about by the Narendra Modi government and promised to step up investment in the “rapidly expanding” Indian market but saw scope for further reforms, including expanding GST coverage across the sector.
On his part, the PM assured a house full of foreign and domestic oil bosses of addressing their remaining policy concerns, including working with states on GST, and outlined his government’s two-pronged strategy for expanding access to clean and affordable energy for growth.
This was Modi’s second brainstorming session with oilmen, the last one being in January 2016. Within a year of the last session, the government had announced a slew of measures to make it easier for explorers to do business, including removing gas price anomalies and bringing in a more transparent licensing policy for awarding blocks.
“Between then and today, the rapid transformation we see is nothing but miraculous,” one of the executives present in Monday’s session said on condition of anonymity. This optimism summed up the general mood among the chief executives, evident from a gathering of such a large number CEOs, promoters and regional heads of oil, gas and oilfield services heavyweights. Many of the CEOs flew in for the meeting and left soon after, spending just a few hours in the Ca- ➤ Pump up investment to increase domestic production of oil & gas ➤ Create gas-driven economy ➤ Expand access to clean & affordable energy through Ujjwala and Saubhagya schemes pital for Modi’s session.
“This is the emerging power of India under the leadership of PM Modi,” oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan told TOI. But the promise of investment from the CEOs also came with a wishlist: Open access regime for pipelines with a tariff board, a gas exchange for determining market prices apart from GST, which they said would do away with the cascading effect of multiple tax- ➤ Expand GST ambit across oil & gas industry ➤ Open access to gas grid ➤ Gas exchange for market-determined prices es, especially for sectors such as power — where other energy sources such as coal are part of the new tax regime.
Noting their point, Modi said his government was functioning in the mode of a social reformer with coordinated policy, strategy and implementation. He particularly mentioned ‘Ujjwala’ and ‘Saubhagya’ schemes for providing free cooking gas and power connections, respectively, to poor hou- seholds to explain the government’s strategy of expanding energy access.'
Reiterating his policy of reducing India’s import dependence for oil by pumping up domestic production, the PM told CEOs that India was committed to creating a gas-based economy in line with commitments made at the Paris climate meet. Referring to Indian mythology, the PM said like the Sun God’s chariot that is drawn by seven horses, India’s energy juggernaut will be fuelled by seven sources — oil, gas, coal, hydro, wind, biomass and nuclear.
“The PM said that the region has manpower and natural resourcesandthegasnetworkwhich will fire fertiliser plants and the planned refineries will help in the development of eastern India,” Amitabh Kant, CEO of government’s think-tank Niti Aayog, told reporters.
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