Reduction in natural gas dependence seen since FY21 continues: Oil Minister

India's import dependency on natural gas has decreased from 54.4 per cent in FY21 to 43.3 per cent in FY23, the government data showed in the Parliament today. The data shows the decreasing import dependency on natural gas during the last three years, Minister of State for Petroleum and Gas Rameshwar Teli was replying to a question in the Parliament today. 

According to the Minister, the reduction in import dependency is mainly due to recent initiatives taken by the Government of India, across the country including Rajasthan, which also includes reforms such as Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP), Discovered Small Field (DSF) Policy, Open Acreage Licensing (OALP) Policy, Policy framework for exploration and exploitation of Coal Bed Methane (CBM).

He also highlighted a slew of measures that helped in boosting the domestic natural gas production. Due to these initiatives, the gross domestic production of natural gas has increased from 28.67 billion cubic meters (BCM) in 2020-21 to 34.45 BCM in 2022-23 showing a growth of more than 20 per cent during this period. 

“Government has awarded 16 exploration blocks covering a total exploration area of 20137 sq.km in the state of Rajasthan under the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) Bid Rounds,” Teli said.