Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with two ministers and Arvind Panagariya, vice-chairman of NITI Aayog, met executives and experts to seek fresh investments in the exploration of oil and gas in India, acquisition of energy assets abroad and stepping up domestic production of fuel as part of his "Make in India" initiative.
Minister for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan, as well as officials of the Central government were present at the meeting held on Tuesday, said the Prime Minister's Office in a statement.
Among the foreign invitees were British oil major BP's chief executive Bob Dudley, International Energy Agency (IEA) executive director Fatih Birol and Royal Dutch Shell's director (Projects) Harry Brekelmans, IANS reported.
India is benefiting from the global fall in crude oil prices over the past few months, with the country estimated to see a reduction of $44 billion in its oil import bill this financial year, as compared to last fiscal when the country paid $113 billion for its crude imports. The amount is likely to be $69 billion, according to the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry's Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC).
Petroleum products as a percentage of India's imports for the period April to November 2015 was 21.2% as against 30.7% in the corresponding period last year, according to the PPAC's November 2015 report.
Brent crude averaged $44.29/barrel in November 2015 as against $48.56 in October 2015, while the Indian basket crude averaged $42.50/barrel in November 2015 against $46.68 in October, the PPAC said.
The international crude oil price of Indian basket was $33.54/barrel on 4 January, 2016, up from $32.90 on 1 January, 2016.
