India embraces gas and renewables
With prime minister Narendra Modi now less than a year away from a general election, his energy successes and failures will be in the spotlight
India has just passed a milestone in its natural gas development. In fiscal year 2018, which ended on 31 March, liquefied natural gas provided more than half of all the gas the nation consumed, for the first time. It is a success in that prime minister Narendra Modi and his petroleum and natural gas minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, have been promoting the concept of India becoming a gas-based economy. Imports will play a crucial role if that is to happen. India has struggled to develop pipeline imports and so is becoming increasingly dependent on LNG. There is a long way to go: the share of gas in primary energy supply is just 6.5%. It is a failure in that India's own gas production has been on
Also in this section
13 March 2026
Brussels is again weighing a cap on gas prices amid the Hormuz crisis, but the measure could backfire by deterring the LNG cargoes Europe urgently needs
12 March 2026
Emergency oil stocks provide a last line of defence to oil market shocks, so the IEA’s unprecedented 400m bl release represents something of a double-edged sword
12 March 2026
LPG could rapidly expand access to clean cooking across Africa and prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths from indoor air pollution each year, but infrastructure shortages and regulatory barriers are slowing investment and market growth
11 March 2026
Missiles over Dubai and disruption in Hormuz are testing the emirate’s reputation—and shaking the energy hub at the centre of the Gulf economy






