Indian energy firms lay out big plans

India’s state and private firms have chalked out big-ticket investment plans – both in the upstream and downstream segments – to meet the country’s growing demand for energy.

Its main competitor, China, has been aggressively scouting for energy sources worldwide, as well as beating Indian firms in their own back yard – Myanmar and now, reportedly, Bangladesh.

India’s energy companies have their work cut out for them.
New Delhi has announced plans to spend about Rs2.7 trillion

(more than US$660 billion) in the oil-and-gas sector during the 11th Plan period (2007-12), a 160% jump from the 10th Plan’s outlay of Rs1.04 trillion.

New Delhi has also formulated a new open-acreage licensing policy, which allows foreign firms to bid for oil and gas blocks of their choice. India plans to auction 80 new oil and gas blocks in August.

Indian energy companies have been looking to tap energy sources from countries as diverse as Syria, Russia, Yemen, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Suriname, Turkey and Central Asia.

India’s power and upstream energy sectors, such as coal, oil and gas, need investments to the tune of $120 billion to $150 billion over the next five years, according to a recent report from professional services firm KPMG.

Asia Times