Team Blitz India
NEW DELHI: ONGC, IOC and other oil PSUs will invest about Rs 1.2 trillion in the coming fiscal starting April 1 in oil and gas exploration, refineries, petrochemicals and laying pipelines to meet the needs of the world’s fastest-growing energy consuming nation.
The investment proposed in 2024-25 is 5 per cent higher than Rs 1.12 trillion spent by the state-owned oil firms in the current fiscal year that ends on March 31, according to Budget documents.
Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has a planned capital spending of Rs 30,800 crore in the next financial year. This expenditure in finding new reserves of oil and gas and bringing to production discoveries it has already made, is slightly higher than Rs 30,500 crore capex in 2023-24 fiscal (April 2023 to March 2024).
The top oil producer’s overseas arm, ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) will invest 68 per cent more at Rs 5,580 crore in 2024-25 in oil and gas operations abroad when compared with the previous fiscal.
Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the country’s top oil refiner, will be the top spender with an investment outlay of Rs 30,910 crore, with the bulk of it in expansion and upgrade of its seven refineries that produce fuel. This outlay also includes Rs 3,299 crore in the petrochemical business and another Rs 236.48 crore in the small oil and gas exploration portfolio it has.
