Indian state-owned natural gas company GAIL is planning to more than double the capacity of its LNG terminal at Dabhol, Maharashtra, reported the Economic Times.
By 2030–31, the expansion aims to raise the terminal's capacity to 12 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) in a phased manner.
Currently, the Dabhol terminal has a nameplate capacity of 5mtpa; however, it operates at around 2.9mtpa as it remains idle during the monsoon season.
To address this, GAIL is constructing breakwater infrastructure to enable the terminal to operate throughout the year, including the monsoon period.
GAIL chairman Sandeep Kumar Gupta said: "Around half the current gas consumption is met by imports and the share is unlikely to come down by 2030. If more gas has to be imported, more terminals will be needed."
He also mentioned that the company is in the preliminary stages of planning additional new LNG import terminals.
India currently has an LNG import capacity of approximately 48mtpa, with an additional 20mtpa reportedly in development.
Despite this, the national goal of increasing the share of natural gas in the primary energy mix to 15% by 2030, up from around 6.5% currently, will require even more capacity.
"But if the gas goals are to be met, these terminals will not be sufficient, and we will need to add more," Gupta added.
In recent years, the push by the government to increase the use of natural gas in the economy has led to the growth of multiple LNG terminals.
However, gas consumption and imports have not increased at the same pace, resulting in underutilisation of these facilities.
Gupta assured that the underutilisation would be addressed over time by rising domestic demand and imports.
There are seven LNG terminals in the country, with four operating below 25% capacity and another two below 40%.
Only the Dahej terminal, India's oldest and largest, operates above 95% capacity.
GAIL also holds a 12.5% stake in Petronet LNG, which operates the Dahej terminal.
In separate deals agreed in January, GAIL secured long-term LNG supply agreements with ADNOC Gas and Vitol Asia.
