LNG Imports
(Source: PPAC)
With increasing gas demand, and domestic production not keeping pace with the same, India became LNG importer in 2004-05. India’s first LNG import cargo arrived in January 2004 from Qatar, delivered to the Dahej terminal in Gujarat
LNG imports grew steadily and crossed the 20 million ton mark in 2017-18. Thereafter, LNG imports have fluctuated between ~20-27 MMTPA
Table below captures trend in India’s LNG imports, including imports in million tonnes, equivalent imports in MMSCM (PPAC uses conversion factor of 1 MMTPA LNG = 1325 MMSCM), and imports in US dollar million. LNG price in $/ton is simply imports in $ million divided by imports in million tonnes
Conversion factor of 1 million tonnes of LNG into million BTU varies depending upon source and composition of gas, typically 48-52, but can be lower or higher in specific cases. PPAC uses 1 MMBTU = 25.2 SCM, hence this translates into a conversion factor of 1325/25.2 ~ 52.6. We have used the same to arrive at implicit LNG price in $/MMBTU in the Table below
| Year | Total LNG Imports MMT | Total LNG Imports MMSCM | Total LNG Imports USD million | LNG Price dollar per tonne | Implicit LNG Price dollar per MMBTU |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 27.0 | 35720.3 | 14907.7 | 553.0 | 10.5 |
| 2023-24 | 24.0 | 31795.2 | 13404.7 | 558.5 | 10.6 |
| 2022-23 | 19.9 | 26304.4 | 17113.6 | 862.2 | 16.4 |
| 2021-22 | 23.4 | 31027.6 | 13472.2 | 575.2 | 10.9 |
| 2020-21 | 25.1 | 33197.7 | 7880.7 | 314.6 | 6.0 |
| 2019-20 | 24.4 | 32352.0 | 9662.8 | 395.7 | 7.5 |
| 2018-19 | 21.5 | 28546.7 | 10558.2 | 490.2 | 9.3 |
| 2017-18 | 20.2 | 26734.3 | 8121.3 | 402.4 | 7.7 |
| 2016-17 | 17.8 | 23562.9 | 6004.7 | 337.7 | 6.4 |
| 2015-16 | 14.4 | 19049.4 | 6710.5 | 466.7 | 8.9 |
| 2014-15 | 13.3 | 17608.1 | 9230.8 | 694.6 | 13.2 |
| 2013-14 | 13.0 | 17252.4 | 8553.6 | 657.0 | 12.5 |
| 2012-13 | 13.1 | 17405.0 | 7556.4 | 575.1 | 10.9 |
| 2011-12 | 13.5 | 17848.6 | 6832.3 | 507.2 | 9.6 |
India's LNG Import Terminals
Petronet LNG Limited set up India’s and Southeast Asia’s first LNG import terminal at Dahej, with an initial capacity of 5 MMTPA in April 2004, which kicked-off LNG imports into India
The setting up of Dahej terminal 2004 was followed by the Hazira terminal in 2005, Dabhol and Kochi (2013), Ennore (2019), Mundra (2020), Dhamra (2023) and Chhara (2025)
India has eight operating LNG import terminals, as below: (Source: PPAC)
