ONGC & IOC to face tech test

NEW DELHI: Public sector oil companies, Oil & Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Indian Oil Corp (IOC) are in for an acid test. The owner (the government) wants to ascertain whether production units of the two companies are employing adequate technology for optimising the output.

The petroleum ministry is considering a proposal of the Planning Commission to appoint an independent consultant to assess the level of technology employed by various units of ONGC and IOC, a ministry source said. The decision is prompted by a letter written by Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia to petroleum minister Murli Deora.

It is understood that similar letters have been written to other ministries to undertake technology upgradation exercise in their industrial units.

“ONGC and IOC contribute to energy production in a major way. To meet the energy goals of the 11th Five Year Plan and beyond efficiently, it is critical that these organisations remain at the forefront of technology absorption and application. To this end, it would be useful to have an independent assessment of the level of technology with which these units are operating,” Mr Ahluwalia said in the letter.

The commission considers that technology upgradation in the energy producing sectors is important. “The availability and cost of energy will be critical constraint on achieving our growth targets and this means our energy producing units should benchmark their technology with the best available to ensure that we are not losing out on opportunities to reduce the cost of producing energy,” he argued.

“The energy picture regarding global warming suggests that we need to be abreast of the technology options in each sector which may be relevant, or may soon become relevant, for reducing the green-house gas emissions. This is an area that is receiving a great deal of attention in the rest of the world and commercially-viable technologies have yet to be evolved in many areas,” he added.