‘We need more exploration:’ Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal on India’s push for energy independence

Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal has said that India can produce oil and gas at "half the cost of imports," adding the world is rapidly securing its own energy and mineral resources and “India must also move quickly to make full use of what lies below the ground.”

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Agarwal said, “in today’s turbulent geopolitics, it is critically important for every large nation to secure energy independence. India is vulnerable because we import 90% of our oil and gas.”



Saying that India is blessed with tremendous resources, almost 300 billion barrels equivalent, which is more than 30 times Guyana’s potential, the need of the hour is exploration.

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“That [Exploration] is the core of this business. Two decades ago, the US was dependent on hydrocarbon imports and vulnerable. They changed it by opening up exploration to entrepreneurs and making it lucrative for them. Even backyards of homes and farms were explored. Everyone benefited,” Agarwal said.

He said the industry and potential investors fear processes, notices, court cases and taking away the licenses. “Today, there are hardly 200 active licences in India when there should be 2,000,” he added.

Becoming self-sufficient

Agarwal said the world doesn’t want India to produce and wants it to be a market. Highlighting the example of food, Agarwal said, “this is a country which used to be import dependent on food. And then became self-sufficient. It all happened because the government created a movement to make the country self-sufficient.”

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Agarwal said the government has been encouraging growth, collaboration and investment. However, production must grow ten times in India to meet future needs and only this will support economic growth and the vision of Viksit Bharat, he added.

Agarwal said we need stable and supportive environment and this is the right time to shift from “heavy regulation to facilitation for exploration and production so the nation can move towards energy independence.”