The natural gas demand in India has rebounded to above pre-pandemic levels. According to the GAIL (India) Limited, the demand has risen across various sectors including city gas, fertilisers and petrochemicals, along with long-haul transport poised to start using liquefied natural gas (LNG) in trucks.
The gas consumption level was greater in October 2020 as compared to its counterpart in 2019 for the first time since June. The rebound has come with the government focussing towards doubling share of gas share to 15 per cent in the country’s energy mix by 2030.
The country is expected to entail an investment of $60 billion in new pipelines and import facilities to increase use of the fuel. India has aggressively auctioned out areas for city gas distribution, covering 70 per cent of its population along with starting LNG fuel stations on highways and industrial areas. According to GAIL, the oil refineries alone will take the gas consumption to 50 million cubic meters per day by 2025 from about 10 million at present.