In a bid to meet the incremental domestic demand at a lower cost, at a time when high prices have cut local liquefied natural gas (LNG) consumption, India is planning to import compressed natural gas (CNG) in place of LNG. Reportedly, GAIL and Petronet LNG to explore supply sources and shippers for importing CNG. The combined cost of liquefaction and regasification of CNG stands at $4 per mmBtu. Whereas the current cost of LNG in the Asian spot market is about $22 per mmBtu. A key reason why LNG supply hasn’t been able to respond quickly to increased global demand in the past several months is takes about three years to build a liquefaction plant or regasification terminal. CNG export or import facilities do not require such lead time. However, the shipping of CNG is less popular and so fewer CNG carriers are available in the market. Indian companies are now trying to figure out if they can quickly tap into some existing supply chains or help build one to source CNG.