<P> The foreign companies continued to play a key role in the oil industry . Oil India Limited was still a joint venture involving the Indian government and the British owned Burmah Oil Company (presently, BP) whilst the Indo - Stanvac Petroleum project in West Bengal was between the Indian government and the American company SOCONY - Vacuum (presently, ExxonMobil). This changed in 1956 when the government adopted an industrial policy that placed oil as a "schedule A industry" and put its future development in the hands of the state . In October 1959 an Act of Parliament was passed which gave the state owned Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) the powers to plan, organise, and implement programmes for the development of oil resources and the sale of petroleum products and also to perform plans sent down from central government . </P> <P> In order to find the expertise necessary to reach these goals foreign experts from West Germany, Romania, the US, and the Soviet Union were brought in . The Soviet experts were the most influential and they drew up detailed plans for further oil exploration which were to form part of the second five - year plan . India thus adopted the Soviet model of economic development and the state continues to implement five - year plans as part of its drive towards modernity . The increased focus on exploration resulted in the discovery of several new oil fields most notably the off - shore Bombay High field which remains by a long margin India's most productive well . </P> <P> The process of economic liberalisation in India began in 1991 when India defaulted on her loans and asked for a $1.8 billion bailout from the IMF . This was a trickle - down effect of the culmination of the cold war era; marked by the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, India's main trading partner . The bailout was done on the condition that the government initiate further reforms, thus paving the way for India's emergence as a free market economy, which would open up its markets to western companies . </P> <P> For the ONGC this meant being reorganised into a public limited company (it is now called for Oil and Natural Gas Corporation) and around 2% of government held stocks were sold off . Despite this however the government still plays a pivotal role and ONGC is still responsible for 77% of oil and 81% of gas production while the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) owns most of the refineries putting it within the top 20 oil companies in the world . The government also maintains subsidised prices . As a net importer of oil however India faces the problem of meeting the energy demands for its rapidly expanding population and economy and to this the ONGC has pursued drilling rights in Iran and Kazakhstan and has acquired shares in exploration ventures in Indonesia, Libya, Nigeria, and Sudan . </P>

Freedom fighter also known as indian petroleum industry