New Delhi, October 14:

Export of petroleum products from India is likely to reach $497.01 billion within the next five years, said a study Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham). It said exports of petroleum products are growing at a faster rate than imports.

Petroleum products exported by India have been growing at an astonishing rate of 73 per cent for the past three years, according to ‘Petroleum Trade’, a study done by Assocham. “Petroleum exports were valued at $0.03 billion in 1999-2000, which increased to $18.53 billion in fiscal 2006-07, growing at a compound annual rate of 96.5 per cent. Imports on the other hand, increased from $12.6 billion in 1999-2000 to $57 billion in 2006-07,” Venugopal Dhoot, president, Assocham said. “Even as energy requirements of Indian economy are rapidly increasing, capacity expansion of public- and private-sector refineries would help maintain the growth momentum of exports of petroleum products,” he added. The study indicated that growth ra-te of petroleum imports had b-een declining over the past two years. It grew by 29.7 per cent in 2006-07 compared to a growth of 47 per cent a year ago.