UK-based energy firm Cairn has helped put India in a strong position to weather the economic storm with the discovery of substantial oil fields in Rajasthan.

The Economic Times reports that the Barmer discovery, which was made in 2004 in a field abandoned by Royal Dutch Shell and taken over by Cairn India, is set to change the face of the country's energy industry at a time when it cannot afford to be so reliant on the overseas oil and gas industry.

Barmer is the largest onshore discovery ever made by the company and upstream oil operations were overseen by exploration director Mike Watts, who has earned the nickname 'sniffer' for his aptitude at making new discoveries.

Contributing around 600,000 barrels of oil a day to the country's national processing quota of three million barrels a day, Barmer will save the country around $1.5 billion (£1.108 billion) a year over the next decade.

In order to meet the training and development requirements to fulfil the potential of the Barmer field, the International Finance Corporation opened up the Industrial Training Institute near the fields early last year.

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