Lok Sabha Question No. 1872 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-11
Subject: Availability of Natural Gas for Power Generation
Ministry: PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS
Asked by: Smt. Bharti Pardhi, Dr. Shrikant Eknath Shinde, Shri Ravindra Dattaram Waikar, Shri Shrirang Appa Chandu Barne

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 1872

TO BE ANSWERED ON 11 th  December, 2025

## AVAILABILITY OF NATURAL GAS FOR POWER GENERATION

1872. Shri Shrirang Appa Chandu Barne:

Smt. Bharti Pardhi:

Shri Ravindra DattaramWaikar:

Dr. Shrikant Eknath Shinde:

पेट Ō ोिलयम और Ůाक ृ ितक गैस मंũी

Will the Minister of PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government  has  taken  steps  to  enhance  the  availability  of  natural  gas  for  power generation and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the quantum of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) imported by power plants during 2025-26 and the trend observed during the last five years;
- (c) the major initiatives undertaken to increase the share of natural gas in the country's energy basket, including the expansion of the National Gas Grid and LNG terminals;
- (d) whether any specific incentives or policy measures have been introduced to boost gas-based power generation and improve Plant Load Factor (PLF) of gas-based plants, if so, the details thereof; and
- (e)  the  expected  impact  of  these  initiatives  on  energy  security  and  reduction  in  dependence  on conventional fossil fuels?

## ANSWER

पेट Ō ोिलयम और Ůाक ृ ितक गैस मंũालय मŐ राǛमंũी ( ŵी सुरे श गोपी )

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS (SHRI SURESH GOPI)

(a) to (c) Government have taken various measures to enhancethe availability of natural gas forpower generation which, inter-alia , includesexpansion of National Gas Grid to connect domestic gas sources as  well  as  Liquefied  Natural  Gas  (LNG)  terminals  to  the  power  plants,introducing  a  unified  tariff, setting up of LNG Terminals, allowing the domestic gas producers who have been granted pricing and marketing  freedom  to  sell  domestic  gas  upto  500  mmscm  or  10%  of  annual  productionfrom  their contract area whichever is higher, per year through gas exchanges authorized by PNGRB, etc.

Further,  Government  have  placed  Liquefied  Natural  Gas  (LNG)  under  the  Open  General Licence  (OGL)  category.  This  allows  buyers  to  freely  import  LNG  as  per  their  requirement  on mutually  agreed  commercial  terms  with  suppliers.  Government  have  also  made  provisions  for  Nil customs duty on import of LNG, if it is used for generation of electricity by a generating company as defined in section 2(28) of Electricity Act, 2003 (36 of 2003) to supply electrical energy or to engage in the business of supplying electrical energy to the grid. Gas based power plants are free to import the LNG, generate power and sell it to customers.

The quantum of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) imported by power plants during 2025-26 and the year wise growth trend observed during the last five years is as under:

| Year              |   Total Gas imported (in MMSCMD) | Growth w.r.t. last year (%)   |
|-------------------|----------------------------------|-------------------------------|
| 2020-21           |                             11.7 | 14%                           |
| 2021-22           |                              7.3 | -38%                          |
| 2022-23           |                              2.8 | -62%                          |
| 2023-24           |                              7.8 | 179%                          |
| 2024-25           |                              8.5 | 9%                            |
| 2024-25 (Apr-Oct) |                             13   | -                             |
| 2025-26 (Apr-Oct) |                              9.1 | -30%                          |

(Source: Ministry of Power)

Government have taken multiple steps to increase share of Natural Gas in primary energy mix. These, inter-alia ,  includes  expansion  of  National  Gas  Grid  Pipeline,  expansion  of  City  Gas Distribution  (CGD)  network,  setting  up  of  Liquefied  Natural  Gas  (LNG)  Terminals,  allocation  of domestic gas to Compressed Natural Gas (Transport) / Piped Natural Gas (Domestic) CNG(T)/PNG(D) as priority sector, allowing marketing and pricing freedom with a ceiling price to gas produced  from  high  pressure/high  temperature  areas,  deep  water  &  ultra-deep  water  and  from  coal seams,  Sustainable  Alternative  Towards  Affordable  Transportation  (SATAT)  initiatives  to  promote CBG etc..

For  increasing  domestic  gas  production,  Government  of  India  has  notified  Hydrocarbon Exploration  and  Licensing  Policy  (HELP)  for  the  award  of  exploration  acreages  shifting  from Production  Sharing  mechanism to  Revenue Sharing mechanism. Government further notified policy framework for early monetization of Coal Bed Methane (CBM) (2017), Discovered Small Field policy (2018),  policy reforms in 2019, where many of the processes and approvals were relaxed to promote 'Ease of Doing Business', Revenue Share from Category II & III type of basins were removed, except for windfall gains, 7 years Royalty Holiday for Deep & Ultra-deep blocks, concessional Royalty Rates for  Deepwater  and  for  ultra-deep  water  blocks,  and  fiscal  incentives  have  been  provided  for  early monetization of fields along with Marketing and Pricing freedom for natural gas. Further, Government in 2020 allowed market price discovery through e-bidding system and in 2023 permitted a premium of 20%  over  the  Administered  Price  Mechanism  prices  for  gas  produced  from  new  well  and  well interventions of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited & Oil India Limited from their nomination fields.

(d)  and  (e)  Ministry  of  Power  has  informed  that  existing  Gas-Based  Plants  (GBPs)  in  the  country remain underutilised due to the high cost of electricity generation. To meet increased demand during crunch periods, the Ministry of Power implemented Schemes for procurement of power from GBPs during peak demand periods in 2023, 2024 and 2025 through competitive bidding. Selected GBPs have been  provided  with  a  Minimum  Off-take  Guarantee  (MGO).  During  the  crunch  periods  of  2023 (April-June 2023), 2024 (March-June 2024) and 2025 (March-October 2025), energy procured from the  selected  GBPs  under  these  schemes  was  317  MU,  482  MU  and  1,477  MU  respectively.  This Scheme, inter-alia, helped in improving the utilization of gas-based assets, provided additional peak support  to  the  grid,  and  contributed  to  maintaining  system  reliability  during  periods  of  elevated demand. The PLF of gas-based power plants has increased from 11.4% during 2022-23 to about 15 % during 2024-25.

In addition, Ministry of Power have issued directions under Section 11 of the Electricity Act for maximization of generation from gas-based stations during the periods 26thMay 2025 to 30thJune 2025 and 1stMay 2024 to 30thJune 2024.

Policy initiatives to boost gas-based power generation and improve Plant Load Factor (PLF) of gas-based  plants  are  expected  to  strengthen  energy  security  by  diversifying  the  energy  mix  and reducing reliance on coal and oil.

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