Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri has said 2030 is a “reasonable” timeline to expect gas to account for 15% of India’s energy mix, from the current 6% odd levels. Puri was speaking at the launch of the 12th City Gas Distribution (CGD) bidding round in New Delhi on Thursday, October 12.
Puri said he is quite happy with the pace of domestic gas production, which is increasing by 18% year-on-year (YoY). The minister said, “At present, an about 23,500-km long gas pipeline network is under operation in the country and around 12,000-km pipeline is approved/under construction. Efforts are underway to complete the vision of One Nation One Gas Grid by 2030.”
The government expects an approximate investment of $67 billion in natural gas infrastructure in next 5-6 years with India’s daily domestic gas sales likely to grow over four times from the current 35 MMSCMD (million metric standard cubic meters per day) to around 150 MMSCMD by 2028, as per the Petroleum Natural Gas Regulatory Board or PNGRB.
Echoing a similar sentiment, Petroleum Secretary Pankaj Jain said the government’s current priority is expanding the city gas distribution and piped natural gas network but there is also huge unmet demand in thermal power, fertiliser and industries.
“We think that demand for both PNG and LPG will grow — we are adding 75 lakh new Ujjwala connections. There is space for both LPG and PNG customers to grow.”
Oil Minister Puri also said he expects import dependence on gas to come down as India is on track to achieve 'atmanirbharta' (self-reliance) in gas production. He also said global demand for gas may soften after 2025, and he doesn't expect production cuts in global gas supplies like in crude oil.
On the impact of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war on gas prices, Puri said, "I don't expect supply lines to be disrupted, so I am not worried." India imports about 50% of its gas requirements.
He also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is very sensitive to prices affecting the common man or at the point of consumption.
“I am reasonably confident we can navigate this,” Puri added.
