Context:

The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has discovered crude oil at a depth of 3,000 meters in Ballia, located in the Ganga basin, after a three-month survey on land owned by the family of Chittu Pandey, a freedom fighter.

  • India’s crude oil reserves were estimated at 587.335 million metric tonnes in 2021, mainly located in offshore regions, Assam, and Gujarat.
  • ONGC, which has been leading oil exploration since 1956, made the Ballia discovery as part of its efforts to increase domestic oil production and reduce imports.
  • The crude oil production states are Rajasthan (21.82%), Gujarat (13.53%), Assam (12.50%), Tamil Nadu (1.15%), Andhra Pradesh (0.87%), and Arunachal Pradesh (0.13%).

About ONGC

  • The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), founded in 1956.
  • Headquarter: Delhi
  • It is India’s leading company in exploring and producing crude oil.
  • It has been key in discovering and developing the country’s oil fields.

About Chittu Pandey

  • He was popularly referred to as the Sher-e-Ballia (Lion of Ballia).
  • A prominent independence activist led the Quit India Movement in Ballia.
  • Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose Referred him as the “Tiger of Ballia”.
  • He headed the National Government declared and established on 19 August 1942.
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