Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has said that India will offer investment opportunities worth USD 300 billion in the hydrocarbon sector over next 10 years to keep pace with the country's energy demand.

Commenting on the issue, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told the media, “A group of experts is being set up to advice the government on issues related to energy. Besides, a Cabinet proposal is being finalised for a gas platform for having market driven prices.”

"In the next 10 years, India is offering project scope of USD 300 billion (in hydrocarbon sector) looking into our future demand. Very soon we will be coming up with gas exchange platform. Foreign Direct Investment is a contentious issue in this sector," he added.

“The primary idea is to put some component of domestic gas (in future) and imported LNG on this new platform. We want to exchange (replace) the pooling mechanism of gas through a transparent exchange. We will be going to Cabinet very soon with detailed, nitty-gritty...how it will work," he further added.