The Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu interacted with CMDs of ONGC, GAIL, and HPCL in Visakhapatnam today and suggested to them to expedite various projects across the country in view of the rising demand for oil and gas.The CMDs made presentations and apprised him of the progress of various projects.The Vice President said that Industrialization, Rapid Urbanization, Rising Income Levels, and other factors are spurring demand for oil and gas. He pointed out that the Indian government has also chalked out a plan to reduce oil imports by 2022.Shri Naidu also suggested to ONGC to establish a corporate office in the East Coast since most of ONGC’s exploration and production activities are being carried out in Konaseema area of Andhra Pradesh.ONGC CMD informed the Vice President that so far they have invested Rs 51,453 crores in onshore and offshore assets in KG basin and another 35,000 crore are in the pipeline, of which Rs 10,000 crore is scheduled for this year. CMD of HPCL said that they will complete the Rs 20,928 Visakh Refinery Modernisation project worth by 2020. The 697 km Vijayawada Dharmapuri pipeline is being taken up at cost of Rs 2677 crores.The Vice President has urged the public sector companies to look into the recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Energy. He also wanted GAIl to expedite laying of gas pipelines for domestic consumption in Southern and Northern Andhra Pradesh.