India’s import of Liquified Natural Gas in June rose by 11% to 2,648 mmscm (million standard cubic meter) as the country’s consumption of gas increased by 7% primarily due to the rising demand for power and increased utilisation of gas based power capacities, data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell showed.
The country consumed 5,594 mmscm of natural gas in June against 5,224 mmscm in the same period last year. In the first quarter of the current fiscal year 2024-25, natural gas consumption grew 3.7% to 16,707 mmscm.
The natural gas import bill last month also registered a significant increase of 10% at $1.1 billion compared from June 2023. In the first quarter of current financial year, LNG imports stood at $3.4 billion, up 6.2% from the first quarter of FY24.
In the quarter ended June, power generation from gas based power plants rose by almost 62.5% on year to 13.49 billion units, data from the Central Electricity Authority showed. Plant load factor for these plants stood at 24.8% compared to 15.3% in Q1FY24. PLF for gas-based power plants in June came to be at 25.8%, up from 17% June 2023.
The demand for power surged to about 152.38 billion units last month, 9% higher than the same month last fiscal. The rise is attributed to heatwaves in temperatures across the country. The demand grew 13% during April-June over the same period in 2023.
Power demand in the northern part of the country surged by 22% in June compared to last year due to a prolonged heatwave leading to considerably higher consumption of power for cooling appliances.
During April to May, the power sector accounted for 18% of the total consumption of natural gas, up from 15% in the same period of the previous fiscal, as per the latest data available by PPAC.
The rise in gas based generation also comes amid the power ministry’s directive to all gas-based power generating stations to operationalise their plants to full capacity till June 30 in view of rise in electricity demand.
The production of natural gas also grew by 5.7% on year to 9,056 mmscm in the first quarter of the financial year 2024-25. In June alone, the production stood at 2,993 mmscm, up 3% from the corresponding period a year ago.
India’s consumption of LNG is expected to rise further in the coming months on the back of growing demand from the fertiliser and power industries, analysts say.
Source: Financial Express