Value of natural gas imports up 43%

NEW DELHI: There has been a 43 per cent increase in the value of natural gas which India has imported between April 2021 and September 2022, according to Petroleum Ministry sources.

However at the same time, there has been a decline in the quantity of natural gas imported during the period under review.

In fact, the import bill of petroleum products has increased by 39.6 per cent in the first half of 2022-23 in comparison to 2016-17, primarily due to increase in quantity due to demand growth, price increase in the international market, and exchange rate changes, sources aware of the development said.

According to official data, India imported 1,878 MMSCM of natural gas in September 2022. This was 34 per cent less than 2,847 MMSCM of gas imported in April 2021.

The value of 2,847 MMSCM of natural gas imported in April 2021, however, was $769 million, while the value of 1,878 MMSCM gas imported in September 2022 was $1,354 million, 43 per cent more.

Sources say that oil PSUs import petroleum products to bridge the supply demand gap in the domestic market.

To gradually reduce dependency on imports of petroleum products, the government had launched the National Biofuel Policy 2018. This is aimed at boosting availability of biofuels in the country and encourage use of alternative fuels like ethanol, bio-diesel and bio-CNG through ethanol blending as well as bio-diesel blending.