•-As a Chemical Engineer and Chemical Business Consultant, I am convinced that the Government of India should be blamed for the present price hike of diesel, cooking gas and kerosene, for the following reasons
1. There is not much difference between the global crude oil present at present and the last time when the Government of India thought it fit to revise the price of petroleum fuel upward. As a matter of fact , the price has come down marginally at present and is showing signs of further decline.
2. The Government of India has not taken any worthwhile steps to implement alternate fuel plans , in spite of knowing that the price of global crude oil will not come down to any significant level. Obviously, the appropriate alternate fuel for India is jatropha bio fuel and algae bio fuel, both of which require R&D efforts and appropriate proactive policies from the government. Instead, what has happened is that several jatropha bio fuel units set up in the country in small and medium level in the recent past are now struggling for survival and some have been closed down due to lack of support measures from Government of India. While several multi national companies like BASF and others are feverishly working to develop algae bio fuel which is now considered as the viable alternative for petroleum fuel in the long run, nothing has been done in India o algae bio fuel. This is so , inspite of the fact that India has the most appropriate conditions for cultivating algae.
3. Government of India has not taken any worthwhile steps to curtail the consumption of fuel in the country. On the other hand, it is permitting the building up of automobiles particularly cars in a very big way. What is required is mass transportation system in a massive scale. In spite of the warnings about the impending crude oil crisis for the last several years , there is no nation wide strategy for promoting mass transportation system with the speed and the size that is required.
4. India is presently producing less than 30 million tonnes crude oil per annum which is virtually remaining stagnant for the last several years. On the other hand, India presently imports around 180 million tonnes of crude oil which is likely to increase to around 220 million tonnes in the next few years, if the present usage trend would continue.
Without any long term strategies and plans, Government of India is keeping on increasing price of petroleum fuel at regular intervals and giving the same reason every time.
Obviously, government’s strategy for petroleum fuel is now in vacuum and government seems to lack ideas. Certainly, people more efficient and forward thinking in the seat of power can do better.
Thanks
N.S.Venkataraman, Director,
Nandini Consultancy Centre Pvt.Ltd.
1. There is not much difference between the global crude oil present at present and the last time when the Government of India thought it fit to revise the price of petroleum fuel upward. As a matter of fact , the price has come down marginally at present and is showing signs of further decline.
2. The Government of India has not taken any worthwhile steps to implement alternate fuel plans , in spite of knowing that the price of global crude oil will not come down to any significant level. Obviously, the appropriate alternate fuel for India is jatropha bio fuel and algae bio fuel, both of which require R&D efforts and appropriate proactive policies from the government. Instead, what has happened is that several jatropha bio fuel units set up in the country in small and medium level in the recent past are now struggling for survival and some have been closed down due to lack of support measures from Government of India. While several multi national companies like BASF and others are feverishly working to develop algae bio fuel which is now considered as the viable alternative for petroleum fuel in the long run, nothing has been done in India o algae bio fuel. This is so , inspite of the fact that India has the most appropriate conditions for cultivating algae.
3. Government of India has not taken any worthwhile steps to curtail the consumption of fuel in the country. On the other hand, it is permitting the building up of automobiles particularly cars in a very big way. What is required is mass transportation system in a massive scale. In spite of the warnings about the impending crude oil crisis for the last several years , there is no nation wide strategy for promoting mass transportation system with the speed and the size that is required.
4. India is presently producing less than 30 million tonnes crude oil per annum which is virtually remaining stagnant for the last several years. On the other hand, India presently imports around 180 million tonnes of crude oil which is likely to increase to around 220 million tonnes in the next few years, if the present usage trend would continue.
Without any long term strategies and plans, Government of India is keeping on increasing price of petroleum fuel at regular intervals and giving the same reason every time.
Obviously, government’s strategy for petroleum fuel is now in vacuum and government seems to lack ideas. Certainly, people more efficient and forward thinking in the seat of power can do better.
Thanks
N.S.Venkataraman, Director,
Nandini Consultancy Centre Pvt.Ltd.
