India To Double Natural Gas Consumption In Five Years, Says Petroleum Minister

India plans to double its natural gas consumption from the current 120 million standard cubic metres a day (mscmd) to 240 mscmd in five years, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Wednesday (30 November).

Sixty per cent of the current volume of gas consumption goes to the power and fertiliser sectors, Pradhan added, at a conference on natural gas organised jointly by industry chamber Confederation of Indian Industry, NITI Aayog and the Columbia University in the United States.

In a bid to boost India's low gas consumption of 6 per cent in the energy mix, as compared to a world average of 24 per cent, the government had deregulated the pricing mechanism for producers. To increase the use of gas as a clean fuel, Pradhan said, India had drawn up major investment plans, particularly for the eastern and southern regions, which have low gas use.

With inputs from IANS