(ET)
Boosting oil and gas output and accelerating reforms in the hydrocarbon sector will be the priority of the government over the next five years, Dharmendra Pradhan said on Friday after beginning his second term as petroleum and natural gas minister. Pradhan, whose strong performance led to his promotion to the Cabinet in the first term of the Modi government, in which he started as a minister of state, has also been given charge of the steel ministry, raising his profile significantly in Odisha, his home state.
Pradhan oversaw several sectoral reforms in his first five years as oil minister and now seems set to deepen reforms aimed at cutting India’s dependence on imported oil, creating more competition, and building a robust domestic industry. “In the last five years, several reforms and debottlenecking were undertaken whose benefits will now be visible,” he said, adding that the government will accelerate implementation of the policy measures taken in the last five years.
