December 3, 2024
Dola Sen’s speech on The Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Amendment Bill, 2024
Thank you Mr. Deputy Chairman, Sir, and thanks to my party, All India Trinamool Congress, for giving me a chance to speak on this Bill. I hope I and all other hon. Members will be allowed to speak, and carry out our duty in scrutinizing this Bill. In the 17th Lok Sabha, a total of 221 Bills were passed, of which one-third were passed with less than a 60-minute discussion! In the 15th Lok Sabha, seven out of 10 Bills were sent to Committees for scrutiny! In the 17th Lok Sabha, only two out of 10 Bills were sent for scrutiny! The 18th Lok Sabha is an opportunity for the Union Government to start afresh. Let us not allow it to be a repeat of the 17th Lok Sabha. We have to be democratic. Sir, the Government’s intent to update this Act as per today’s market is good. Many of the speakers today will talk in depth about the Bill. I want to highlight some macro issues. India continues to import more than 85 per cent of its crude oil needs and 50 per cent of its natural gas needs. This dependency is projected to only rise as domestic production continues to fall. Our crude oil imports from Russia in June, 2024 surpassed that of June, 2023. In August, 2024, net imports for oil and gas escalated to 11.4 billion dollars from 9 billion dollars. This is no surprise considering PSUs like ONGC and OIL reported lower outputs. Domestic production of indigenous crude oil failed by 3 per cent while imports increased by 6.4 per cent. The refining sector also showed a 1.9 per cent decrease in total crude oil processed in August, 2024. Our petroleum reserves can provide cover for only 9.5 days of the national demand. If a crisis were to strike tomorrow, we would have no resources, but only long pending bills. So unfortunate! Another thing that I want to mention to protest is that the profitable public sector undertakings like Indian Oil,Bharat Petroleum are in the list of disinvestment of the Union Government’s Viksit Bharat Scheme. Earlier this year, the Government saved 25 billion dollars by importing Russian crude oil at discounted prices. This was welcomed as a great move that would finally give us some relief from rising prices domestically. Sir, not a single penny of this was used to benefit the people. Domestic prices continue to remain high day after day. Instead, the oil was sold to private refineries in Europe translating to profit margins for a select few private entities. We do not understand as to who the Union Government is working for. In November, 2024, the price of international crude oil was 73 dollars per barrel, at the same time, the price of petrol in the domestic market was Rs.95 per litre. Sir, comparing this to 2014, the price of international crude oil was 78 dollars per barrel and that of petrol was Rs.64 per litre. If the Government could regulate prices then, why would not they now? We are observing that the international crude prices are down and down 2014 onwards, but we do not know why the Union Government of India is making the citizens pay higher prices for petrol domestically and, increasing it day by day is astonishing. In the last five years, only five per cent of subsidies and investments have been in green energy. India is in no position to achieve its net zero emissions target by 2030. As per projections, achieving this target could be delayed by at least a decade. Experts believe that India’s relationship with markets beyond the Middle East have weakened leading to volume shrinkage. There is no diversification of supply. If geopolitics demands were to change again in the future, India would be very vulnerable to rapid fluctuations. Why is the Government putting us in this position? One more important policy matter that I want to mention is this. The region where oil fields are being detected, the densely populated areas’ common people must get rehabilitation accordingly along with demurrage and benefits for being evicted as per law. In the tribal areas, the Forest Right Act must be maintained. We want to see human face on behalf of the Union Government in this respect and the Union Government must follow the law of the land as per the Constitution in this regard. Sir, the Government needs to do better. Today, the retail inflation reached a 14 month high at 6.2 per cent in October. Four out of ten youths are unemployed. … The average cost of making meals has increased by 52 per cent in the last one year while the salaries have grown around 10 per cent only in the last one year. The salaries have grown around 10 per cent only. I urge upon the Union Government to work for the people and with the people. The Union Government should be of the people, for the people, by the people, and as per Constitution, for we, the people of India.
