Natural gas consumption in India is expected to increase by about 60% to 103 billion cubic meters (bcm) per year, driven by increased demand in the city gas distribution (CGD) sector. By 2030, gas imports are expected to treble.
The quick development of compressed natural gas (CNG) infrastructure and the lower cost of gas compared to liquid fuels for small industrial customers are expected to boost India’s growing thirst for gas. The production of iron and steel, as well as other heavy industrial and manufacturing sectors, are fueling demand and adding about 15 bcm annually throughout this time. By 2030, focused tactics and policy changes might increase gas consumption above the predicted trajectory to about 120 bcm/yr, which would be comparable to the present gas consumption of the entire South American continent.
In 2023 and 2024, India’s consumption for natural gas increased by over 10%. Rapid infrastructure construction, domestic production recovery, and an anticipated improvement in the state of the global gas market are all factors contributing to this expansion. This follows over ten years of slow development and sporadic downturns.
India’s transmission pipeline network has grown by 40% since 2019, and the country has more than doubled household gas connections and nearly tripled the number of compressed natural gas (CNG) stations. According to the IEA, by 2030, there will be almost twice as many CNG stations and residential connections, and the gas transmission grid is expected to grow by another 50%.
An anticipated surge in new worldwide LNG supplies aligns with the possibility of increased gas consumption in India. To guarantee supply security and support gas’s competitiveness in a price- sensitive market, however, meticulous planning and market coordination will be necessary. The international organization has also noted that, unless more LNG contracts are obtained in the upcoming years, the gap between contracted LNG supply and anticipated LNG consumption is expected to increase considerably beyond 2028, making India increasingly vulnerable to the volatility of the spot LNG market.