Despite the immense impact of COVID-19 last year forcing countrywide lockdowns, India increased its imports of LNG 11 percent to 26.63m tonnes and commissioned new regasification capacity.
India’s natural gas consumption is expected to rise by 4.5 percent in 2021, according to the International Energy Agency.
India is the world’s fourth largest LNG importer behind Japan, China and South Korea, however India is poised to increase its LNG imports in the years ahead to meet it’s natural gas demands. Declining domestic gas production and a growing need to replace coal-fired power with cleaner energy continues to drive India’s LNG imports and investments in gas infrastructure.
In all, India has a total of 10 LNG receiving terminals in operation, under construction or completed and not yet in operation, with another three proposed.
Based on Indian government energy and environmental policy, the growth is expected to continue beyond the next decade. In June, Indian Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel Dharmendra Pradhan said India is committed to achieving 15 percent share of natural gas in the primary energy mix by 2030 to help reduce environmental pollution and meet its commitments to COP-21.
Transitioning the country’s energy dependence on coal to natural gas will require massive investment – an estimated $60 bn – to lay gas pipeline and build LNG receiving terminals and infrastructure, according to Minister Pradhan.
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