Government approves policy for shale gas and oil exploration

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The cabinet approved its shale gas and oil exploration policy on Tuesday, a minister said, but gave no further details.

India, the world's fourth-largest consumer of energy, could be sitting on as much as 96 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of recoverable shale gas reserves, equivalent to about 26 years of the country's gas demand, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

But production from shale remains a long way off for India, which relies on imports for much of its energy needs.

(Reporting by Nigam Prusty; Writing by Jo Winterbottom; Editing by David Chance)