India has been the fourth largest oil refining capacity in the world. However, the Centre has asked the oil ministry to reassess the future oil demand of the country and the oil refining capacity, owing to the increasing domestic consumption. There has also been a delay in the plans laid down for refineries.
It was expected that the demand for oil will drop and make way for other alternatives of energy. However, things don’t seem to go in that direction for now. This scenario was not witnessed even when the refineries were under the State control and there was restricted supply and high fuel prices. In fact, the demand for fuel has grown more than the pre-COVID levels for both petrol and diesel. As per the International Energy Agency, the demand is expected to rise further.
Increasing refining capacity and execution of laid down plans may help in combatting the scarcity of fuel.
