Sunday, January 16 2005 16:07 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Facing burgeoning domestic demand for petroleum, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today (Jan 16, 2005) asked the oil industry not to be complacent and said Government was exploring possibilities of restructuring oil PSUs to make them globally competitive.

"Clearly the challenge before us as a nation is to meet the energy needs of all segments of the population in an efficient and affordable manner ensuring long-term sustainability and environmental protection," he said inaugurating the Petrotech-2005 conference in New Delhi.

Singh said Government is keen on achieving energy security through intensification of domestic exploration efforts and at the same time accessing overseas opportunities.

Cautioning that India was not blessed with the luxury of abundant fossil fuel resources, Singh said to make "our growth model more sustainable, we must step up efficiency of energy consumption so that we can moderate the impact of growth on the demand for energy".

"We can no longer be complacent and must learn to think strategically, to think ahead and to act swiftly and decisively," Singh said.

The Prime Minister said the Government was exploring possibilities of restructuring oil PSUs to make them globally competitive.

He said China was ahead of India in planning for the future in the field of energy security.

Singh said it was important to have an accurate demand projection of the energy mix of the country in the years to come besides putting in place a rational energy pricing mechanism.