Facts:
-
India’s total natural gas production in 2017-18 was 32.64 billion cubic meter of which 22.01 BCM is offshore production while 10.63 BCM is onshore production.
-
The natural gas production in India has fallen in recent years.
-
At present close to half of Natural Gas demand is fulfilled by imports.
-
At present, India is fourth largest importer of LNG.
Importance of Gas:
-
Natural Gas is one of the key inputs for generation of power and manufacturing products in fertilizer and steel industries.
-
The current government policy also pushes towards a gas-based economy by raising the share of environment friendly fuel in the energy basket to 15 per cent from current 6.2 per cent.
India’s Gas Deals:
-
At present, Qatar is biggest supplier of Natural Gas to India.
-
India has also entered into a 20 year deal between India’s State-owned gas company GAIL India Ltd and Russian supplier Gazprom.
-
India had also imported its first ever LNG cargo from US under a long-term import deal.
-
The government policy is to expand the LNG import basket to meet any contingency due to geopolitical or economic reasons.