India's economic development has been built on the twin foundations of its huge coal industry and its substantial hydro-electric potential. This has enabled the economy to develop a high degree of energy self-sufficiency, although per capita energy consumption is still very low at around 12 to 15 per cent of the world average. While economic and industrial growth has, from time to time, been threatened by the low levels of domestic hydrocarbon reserves, the situation has been improved by the relatively recent discovery of significant oil and natural gas deposits in various parts of the country, particularly in the West Coast.
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