“Our current account deficit has improved steadily, we will provide electricity to all by March 2018.”

The Goods and Services Tax can help improve India’s energy efficiency by enabling easier long-haul transport across the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said here on Monday.

“The long-awaited legislation on a national Goods and Services Tax has been passed,” Mr Modi said while inaugurating the Petrotech 2016 conference. “By removing physical barriers at State boundaries, the GST will accelerate long-haul transport and further increase efficiency.”

He said India’s commercial transport sector had become skewed with an increasing proportion of goods being transported by road.

India's piped natural gas network is set to double in length to 30,000 km in five years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday.

"At the moment the piped natural gas network is 15,000 km in length and we will increase this to 30,000 km in five years so that it can reach 10 million households," Mr Modi said while inaugurating the Petrotech 2016 conference.

The Prime Minister reiterated that India needed to increase domestic oil and gas production and reduce its import dependence. Towards this, he underscored his target of reducing energy imports by 10 per cent by 2022.

"Energy is a key driver of economic growth," Mr Modi said. "Sustainable, stable and reasonably priced energy is essential for the development of those at the bottom of the pyramid. This government's focus is on long term economic growth and well-being rather than short term headlines."

The Prime Minister said the key was providing energy access to the poor. "While some of the rich are buying hybrid cars, many of the poor are still using firewood for cooking," he said.

Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan said the fall in global oil prices over the last two years had come as a timely relief for the Indian economy and consumers.