LNG & India

India is a country that has primarily relied on fossil fuels like coal, especially to power its power sector. Liquid fuels, above all diesel is the lifeline of our road transport. It is the call of the hour for India to look for better fuels that are more clean and efficient than fossil fuels. But for environmental reasons we need to focus on cleaner fuels.

The development of Natural Gas industry in the country started in 1960s with discovery of gas fields in Assam and Gujarat. After discovery of South Basin fields by ONGC in 1970s, Natural Gas assumed importance. The Exploration activities in India were earlier carried out only by the National Oil Companies (ONGC & OIL). It was not until later that private companies joined this regime and subsequently 100% foreign participation in exploration was allowed. More discoveries were made in the Natural Gas segment in the coming years and in 2004, liquefied Natural Gas was imported from Qatar and LNG terminal was set up at Dahej of 5 MMTPA capacity.

Currently, India has a gas pipeline network length of 14,987 Km having capacity of 401 MMSCMD spread over 15 States (including Union Territories). The current demand of Natural Gas also far exceeds its supply and to cater to such demands, R-LNG is being imported. The CGD (City Gas Distribution Center) sector comprises of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Piped Natural Gas (PNG) customers. Today, there are over 936 compressed natural gas (CNG) stations across the country and 24, 14,288 households with Piped Natural Gas (PNG) connectivity. The consumption of gas in the CGD network is estimated to be over 16 MMSCMD, that is spread between various distribution channels of domestic and industrial sectors.

The Government on the other hand, is constantly implementing policies and guidelines that facilitate better distribution, consumption and fair pricing of Gas for all sectors. The Government is also facilitating several projects that ensure smooth import of Natural Gas from different parts of the world.