Natural gas production drops sharply; consumption remains low

Domestic natural gas production has declined sharply by 14.2 per cent during FY21 (April-July) compared with 0.3 per cent fall in the same period in the previous financial year. The drop corresponds to the fall in demand due to COVID-19 impact on economic activity.

Imports of natural gas in the form of LNG fell by 7.7 per cent as compared with 8 per cent growth during the same period in the previous financial year. Regasified Liquified Natural Gas (RLNG) constituted 52.8 per cent of the natural gas consumption during the FY21 (April-July).

Consumption of natural gas fell sharply by 11.1 per cent on a YoY basis during FY21 (April-July).

Only 100 CNG refuelling stations were added in April-July this year. Gujarat saw the highest additions with 26 new stations. Nearly 78 per cent of India's CNG stations are concentrated in Delhi, Gujarat (including Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu), UP and Maharashtra.

Total number of PNG connections increased by 3 per cent from 61.09 lakh connections on 1 April 2020 to 62.91 lakh connections on 1 August 2020. Domestic, commercial and industrial connections increased by 2.7 per cent, 13 per cent and 3.6 per cent, respectively.