Hydrocarbon chain needs $600 bn investment by 2030: Assocham

NEW DELHI: India would need investments of about USD 600 billion across various segments of hydrocarbon chain in next two decades to take care of its energy requirements, industry chamber Assocham said on Monday.

The investments would be required to increase energy supply and improve infrastructure for its distribution, it added.

"Being one of the largest energy consumers in the world, India will need investments worth 600 billion dollars (about Rs 27 lakh crore) in the next two decades across various segments of hydrocarbon chain," Assocham said in a statement.

The demand for coal, oil and natural gas, the major energy sources, is increasing day by day.

Oil and gas consumption is growing at a compound annual growth rate of 6.5 per cent and equals over 195 million tonnes of oil equivalent, it said.

"The country's GDP is expected to grow by over 9 per cent in coming years which is likely to pump energy consumption and the efforts to reduce demand-supply gap in oil and gas provide significant opportunities in the upstream segment," said Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat.

India's per capita energy consumption - 500 kg of oil equivalent (KGOE)- is still significantly lower than the global average of 1,800 KGOE, he added.

Though the country has surplus of installed refining capacity of 185 million tonnes per annum, it said, companies are aggressively upgrading their capacities to produce Euro IV and Euro V compliant fuels which can be exported to the United States and Europe.

"India stands a fairly good chance to emerge as a global refining hub as many refineries in developed countries are likely to shut down over the next few years due to environmental pressures," Rawat added.

The country's currently imports a major chunk of its energy needs, mainly oil and natural gas, from Middle East and other parts of the world.