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Informist, Wednesday, Mar. 26, 2025

 

--PNGRB chairman: Invest of INR 700 billion committed in natural gas sector 
--PNGRB chairman: High infra costs in laying pipelines hurts gas demand 
--PNGRB chairman: High imported gas price, state taxes affecting gas demand 
--PNGRB chairman:See city gas use up 6-7 times by 2040 from 37 mscmd in FY24 
--PNGRB chairman: See city gas use up 2.5-3.5 times by 2030 vs 37 mscmd FY24 
--PNGRB chairman: Natural gas use in India may reach 495-630 mscmd by 2040 
--CONTEXT: India's current gas consumption at 190 mscmd 
--PNGRB chairman: Natural gas use in India may reach 297-365 mscmd by 2030 

 

GANDHINAGAR - India's natural gas consumption is likely to rise to 297-365 million standard cubic metres per day, or mscmd, by 2030 and 495-630 mscmd by 2040 from the current 188 mscmd, Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board Chairman A.K. Jain said on Wednesday.

 

Speaking to reporters at an industry event, Jain said this growth would come from higher demand from the city gas distribution, industrial, commercial, and automobile sectors. So far, investment of INR 700 billion has already been committed to set up natural gas infrastructure – INR 400 billion on gas transportation pipelines and INR 300 billion to expand the city gas distribution network across the country, Jain said.

 

The government has set a target of natural gas accounting for 15% of the energy mix by 2030, against 6% in 2015. At 190 mscmd consumption, natural gas currently accounts for 6.5% of the country's energy mix. 

 

Jain said that so far, the board has received commitments to set up 17,000 CNG stations and connect 120 million households through piped gas by 2030. Currently, india has 7,600 CNG stations and 14 million households with piped gas connections.

 

According to Jain, city gas use has seen 12% compounded annual growth between 2015-16 (Apr-Mar) and 2023-24 and could see consumption rising 2.5-3 times by 2030 and 6-7 times by 2040, from 37 mscmd in FY24. Similarly, the use of natural gas in the industrial segment has grown at a compounded annual rate of 12.7%. 

 

Jain, however, said that high costs of laying pipeline infrastructure were restricting growth. "In case of Mumbai, at some places cost of connecting one household is as high as INR 32,000," he said.

 

The high cost of imported liqufied natural gas, or LNG, and different taxes levied by state governments also restrict the use of natural gas, he said. India imports nearly half of its gas needs as LNG, which follows global pricing norms.

 

Jain quoted the example of the power sector, which was once expected to switch from from using coal to cleaner natural gas as feedstock. The sector saw massive inflow of capital since beginning of the millennium but high LNG costs saw most of them remain shut due to commercial unviability. In fact, gas usage by the country's power sector has fallen 2.2?tween 2015-16 and 2023-24.  End

 

Reported by Sunil Raghu

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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