New Delhi: According to trade body Assoocham, rising energy consumption in step with rising economic growth will lead to India''s dependence on imported oil increasing to around 85 per cent by 2012 from 70 per cent at present.

In a paper, Future Imperatives of Crude Oil Scenario, Assocham says India''s dependence on imported crude oil would rise in the absence of new discoveries of domestic oil reserves.

However, the higher crude oil imports would not impact the trade deficit adversely as most of the addition in the new capacities are aimed at exporting value added products, Assocham noted.

The chamber said in a statement that refining capacity in India was poised to increase by 58 per cent to touch 235 million tonnes in the next five years in view of the growing demand for energy.

The paper also noted that India had few resources at its disposal for harnessing alternative energy sources, despite their abundance in the country, as harnessing them commercially was an expensive proposition.

Assocahm said even projects that are likely to be commissioned during the 11th Five Year Plan by Reliance Petroleum, Indian Oil Corporation, HPCL and BPCL would require higher imports of crude oil, if domestic crude oil production continues to stagnate.