Demand from New Delhi for liquefied natural gas is expected to top 70 million tons annually
Norway’s Crown LNG is set to invest more than $1 billion to construct a regasification terminal in India, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing the company.
The facility, which will be built in the city of Kakinada and is slated for completion in 2028, has a planned annual capacity of 7.2 million tons, making it India’s second largest, according to official data.
For Crown LNG, which specializes in building liquefied natural gas infrastructure in locations exposed to harsh weather, the project represents an expansion within the burgeoning Indian energy market, according to CEO Swapan Kataria.
He noted that India’s soaring gas demand is now restrained by a shortage of affordable supply. However, given the ongoing growth in global production capacity, LNG is likely to become cheaper by 2030, Kataria added.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has outlined a strategy to boost the share of gas in the country’s energy mix from 6% to 15% by the end of the decade. India’s LNG demand is expected to surge to 72.9 million tons a year by 2030, from an estimated 20.2 million tons last year, according to analysis by Bernstein Research.
Growing demand has spurred an inflow of investment in infrastructure and, according to experts, has been a key driver behind Crown LNG’s decision to invest in a regasification import terminal.
Meanwhile, analysts have pointed out that, according to Indian Oil Ministry data, of the seven LNG terminals in the country, last year three operated below 20% of their capacity and another three below 40%, a circumstance that casts some doubts on the viability of future projects.
