India’s LNG imports drop in July

The country imported 2.95 billion cubic meters, or about 2.2 million metric tonnes of LNG in July, via long-term contracts and spot purchases.

July LNG imports were similar to those of the previous month, when they reached 3 bcm.

India imported 11.53 bcm of LNG during April-July, down by 12.4 percent compared to the previous year, according to the data.

From April 2024 to March 2025, India took 36.99 bcm of LNG, or about 27.7 million metric tonnes, up by 15.4 percent compared to the same period in the year before, PPAC’s data previously showed.

India paid $1.2 billion for July LNG imports, down from $1.5 billion in July 2024.

Moreover, India’s natural gas production reached 2.97 bcm in July, a drop of 3.3 percent from the corresponding month of the previous year.

LNG terminals

India imports LNG via eight facilities with a combined capacity of about 52.7 million tonnes per year.

These include Petronet LNG’s Dahej and Kochi terminals, Shell’s Hazira terminal, and the Dabhol LNG, Ennore LNG, Mundra LNG, and Dhamra LNG terminals.

The newest LNG import terminal is HPCL’s 5 mtpa Chhara LNG import terminal in India’s Gujarat, which launched commercial operations in February.

PPAC said that during April-June this year, the 17.5 mtpa Dahej terminal operated at 91.8 percent capacity, while the 5.2 mtpa Hazira terminal operated at 28.4 percent capacity.

The 5 mtpa Dhamra LNG terminal operated at 39.7 percent capacity, the 5 mtpa Dabhol LNG terminal operated at 37.6 percent capacity, the 5 mtpa Kochi LNG terminal operated at 20.7 percent capacity, the 5 mtpa Ennore LNG terminal operated at 25.8 percent capacity, the 5 mtpa Mundra LNG terminal operated at 16.6 percent capacity, and the Chhara LNG terminal operated at 4.8 percent capacity.

India’s largest LNG importer, Petronet LNG, again pushed back the launch of an additional 5 mtpa capacity at its Dahej LNG terminal in western Gujarat state.

Petronet expects to complete work on the additional Dahej capacity by the end of this year.