<div>India refines more oil than the domestic requirement and the government seeks to develop the country as a refinery hub, Lok Sabha was informed on Monday (04 August).<br /><br />Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said domestic requirement is 160 MMT, while India refines 215 MMT.<br /><br />He said it helps the country earn foreign exchange.<br /><br />Pradhan said the country also seeks to fulfil the need of SAARC countries and other developing economies.<br /><br />He said while some Gulf countries produce crude, they lack refining capacity. This, he said, has led to a situation where curde is cheaper while refined product is costly in those countries.<br /><br />The Minister was responding to a supplementary on country reaching a saturation point in refined oil production.<br /><br />He said while several companies have appilied for refinery in the private sector, Essar and Reliance have been contributing to the country's refinery production.<br /><br />The refinery sector was delicenced in June, 1998 and a refinery can be set up anywhere in India by a private or public sector company depending on its techno-commercial viability.<br /><br />"The present capacity is more than the demand of petroleum products in the country. Hence, the country is now a net exporter of petroleum products. India has been exporting surplus petroleum products since 2001-02," he said.<br /><br />India has exported petroleum products to the tune of Rs 3,68,279 crore during 2013-14.<br /><br />(PTI)</div>
