Booming profitability: In order to ensure energy security, the government focussed on diversifying sources of imports and the number of countries India imports oil from has gone up from 27 to 39, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri said while addressing the fourth edition of the Republic Summit in New Delhi on Thursday.

He also threw light on the profitability of the oil PSU's, and said, "The market capitalisation of OMCs and upstream companies has more than doubled to nearly Rs 10 lakh crore compared to July 2021."

"Oil PSU's are giving back to the nation, but some people are saying it's because stock markets are going up," Puri said.

He clarified further that Nifty has just gone up 39 per cent between July 2022 and February 2024. However, in the same period, Bharat Petroleum grew by 43 per cent, GAIL grew by 70 per cent , HPCL by 72 per cent, ONGC by 125 per cent, IOCC by 153 per cent, he added.

The minister also highlighted that the prices of LPG rose by 303 per cent between June 2020 and 2022. " The government partially absorbed the hikes to insulate Indian consumers from price fluctuations," Puri added.

Puri also added that India will attain the target of 20 per cent ethanol blending 5 years ahead in 2025 against 2030 set by PM Modi.