Natural Gas as a Potential Game Changer in India's Energy Security

In the coming decades, natural gas is poised on the brink of gaining increasing salience in meeting international energy demands. As a moot case in point, its share in the global energy basket continues to maintain an upward trajectory vis-à-vis the conventional dominance of coal and oil. The persisting mismatch between the cost-effectiveness and the energy-efficiency, plaguing most renewable energy resources, gives the cleaner, natural gas burning an added advantage as a bridge-fuel. Being a rising power with accentuating economic credentials to speak for, India seems to have actively embraced the growing importance of natural gas. This has translated into efforts aimed at raising the proportion of natural gas in its domestic energy mix. The fact that the country has insufficient conventional hydrocarbon reserves to feed its expanding consumer and industrial base makes it heavily dependent on imports of the conventional hydrocarbons from abroad. Nevertheless, it would be unjust not to mention some of the far-sighted measures being taken to dovetail hydrocarbon imports (particularly natural gas) with a targeted boost in domestic production.

This article attempts to assess the current and prospective role of natural gas in meeting the demands of India’s energy security. It seeks to evaluate the potentialities for accelerating natural gas induction in the country’s energy mix, with a focus on domestic production as well as imports. By highlighting the challenges confronting the Indian hydrocarbon sector in general and domestic exploration-and-production in particular, this paper makes a critical assessment of the manifold reforms that have been initiated to address this concern. Through a perusal of the major local, regional and global determinants that shape India’s outlook towards natural gas, a modest attempt has been made to try to help in the evolution of a roadmap for the country in terms of transitioning to a largely gas-based economy.