NEW DELHI, Aug 17: India’s dependency on oil imports is likely increase to about 85 per cent by 2012 from the current 70 percent as it seeks to fuel a fast-growing economy, an Indian industry group said on Friday.

“Present trends indicate that oil will continue to hold an important position as preferred fuel in the long term,” said the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) in a report.

While alternate sources of energy are available “in abundance” in India, harnessing them is still a problem, the report entitled “Future Imperatives of the Crude Oil Scenario.” There has also been a lack of domestic discoveries, it added.

“Crude oil which is a scarce (domestic) commodity now and will continue to be so in future too,” said the document.

Refining capacity is poised to jump by 58 per cent to touch 235 million tons in the next five years, said Assocham.

It also said it was unlikely that higher crude oil imports would have a major impact on India’s trade deficit as the import bill would be largely offset by exports of petroleum products.

High economic growth prospects, especially in China and India, will mean significantly higher international oil prices, the report added.India has been racing to secure fuel supplies abroad to keep its economy expanding strongly.

The Indian economy grew by 9.4 percent in the financial year ended March 2007 and a similar expansion is forecast for this year.—AFP