The opposition Congress party takes a dig at the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, for the country’s dependence on crude oil, LPG, and natural gas imports.
On Friday, Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh wrote on X, pointing to India's dependence on natural gas imports, "The gas grandly promised by Mr. Modi has remained that — gas.”
"Between 2014-15 and 2024-25, India's dependence on crude oil imports went up from 84% to 90%. Between 2014-15 and 2024-25, India's dependence on LPG imports went up from 46% to 62%," Ramesh said, adding that "all this when the mantra was supposed to be Atmanirbharta, or self-reliance.
The natural gas story is murkier, he claimed.
"On June 26, 2005, the then CM of Gujarat (Modi) boasted that the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation had discovered India's biggest gas reserve in the deep waters of the Krishna-Godavari river basin. Mr Modi announced that this would make India energy independent," Ramesh said.
He claimed that five CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) reports between 2011 and 2016 were to reveal later that this was a "Rs 20,000 crore scam, which was subsequently covered by the prime minister, forcing Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation's merger into Oil and Natural Gas Corporation in August 2017".
The Congress leader's remarks come amid reports of panic buying and long queues at petrol pumps and LPG distributors. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, for the first time since the war in West Asia broke out, released stock details of crude oil, fuel, and LPG as it rushed to calm nerves.
India has about 60 days of oil stock cover and has arranged one full month of LPG supply, the government said on Thursday, adding that there is no shortage of petrol, diesel, or LPG, calling reports of shortages a "deliberate misinformation campaign" aimed at triggering panic buying.
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