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.