India’s Natural Gas Import Bill Falls 9.4% to $4.8 Billion in April–July FY26

20 Aug 2025 , 02:33 PM

India’s natural gas import bill fell 9.4% year-on-year to $4.8 billion during the first four months of FY26. This is compared with $5.3 billion in the same period last year, according to data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC). The decline was driven by weaker demand and lower volumes of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

LNG Imports See Double-Digit Fall

Between April and July, India imported 11,534 million standard cubic meters (mmscm) of LNG. This is down 12.4% from 13,160 mmscm in the year-ago period. In July alone, the LNG import bill slipped 20% to $1.2 billion. The volumes contracted 20% to 2,946 mmscm compared to July 2024. Overall gas consumption during the four-month period fell 7.8% year-on-year to 23,134 mmscm.

Domestic Production Weakens

Domestic output also came under pressure, declining 3% to 11,754 mmscm. State-owned ONGC produced 6,129 mmscm, lower than 6,271 mmscm in the same period last year. Production remained below targets, highlighting the persistent supply gap. Experts said ageing fields at ONGC and Oil India continue to drag output.

“India’s declining domestic oil and gas production has further exacerbated its position as a relatively small producer with limited prospects for near-term growth,” Rubix Data Sciences noted in a recent report.

Policy Push to Cut Import Dependence

Reducing import reliance has been a key government priority, but stagnant output has kept dependency high. The Centre has rolled out upstream sector reforms to reduce policy uncertainty, clear bottlenecks, and attract more private and global players into exploration and production.

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