Energy is the motive power that keeps the wheels moving and other things live and dynamic.Energy form the foundation of all our industrial,agricultural and developmental activities.Life itself is energy based.Energy is crucial for all our growth and development.There are a number of sources of energy,such as fossil fuel,wind,water and the sun.Fossil fuel has been the conventional source of our energy needs and under it come coal,lignite,petroleum and natural gas.Another source of traditional energy is fuelwood,animal waste and agricultural residues but these are known as non-commercial fuel.Unfortunately,the source of conventional energy are depleting quite quickly.These conventional and  natural source of energy are not sufficient to meet our ever-increasing demand and,as a result there is a crisis.

As a developing country,India needs more and more energy as it is the main input in economic and industrial development.Energy is consumed by all sectors of economy and all sections of society in India.Energy crisis is not confined to India alone.Even the developed countries like the U.S,Russia,Germany and japan etc,have the problem.There is a direct and close relation between the availability of energy and growth of a country.In spite of 45-fold increase in generation of electricity,6-fold increase in coal production and 130-fold increase in production of crude in India during the last four decades,there is a major shortage of energy and the gap between availability and demand in widening.

India has to import a significant portion of its oil needs.During 1992-93,our import bill for petroleum and petroleum products was nearly 17100 crores,which rose to a staggering Rs.71,500 crores in 2000-01.In spite of the phenomenal growth in our petroleum industry,we have to import a huge quantity crude oil and petroleum products from other countries.The industry has witnessed tremendous progress in the field of oil-exploration and production,refining and marketing petroleum products.Domestic crude oil production reached the peak level of 330 lacs tonnes in 1990-91.However it came down to 303 lacs tonnes during 1991-92 but is rose again.after remedial measures,to approaximately 327 lacs tonnes in 1999-2000.The constant increase in the price of oil in the international market since 1973 has worsened the energy crisis in India.It has put tremendous strain on our developing economy and there is an urgent need of energy efficient machines and devices,particularly automobiles because transport sector is main consumer of petroleum products.In the context of energy crisis and ever increasing oil import bill,high priority should be given to conservation of oil and petroleum products in transport,industrial,agricultural and household sectors.