India emerged as the world’s fourth-largest LNG importer in 2024

New Delhi: GAIL (India) Limited and Vitol Asia Pte. Ltd. have signed a long-term LNG Sales and Purchase Agreement (SPA) for the annual supply of approximately 1 Million Metric Tonnes Per Annum (MMTPA) of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) over a period of about 10 years, commencing in 2026. Under the agreement, Vitol will deliver LNG to GAIL from its global LNG portfolio.

Speaking on the occasion, GAIL's Director (Marketing) Sanjay Kumar, stated that " GAIL is expanding its long-term LNG portfolio to meet demand growth. We are pleased to partner with Vitol Asia Pte. Ltd., and this agreement represents a key milestone in reinforcing GAIL’s capability to reliably serve its diverse and evolving customer base."

Jay Ng, Chief Financial Officer, Vitol Asia and Executive Committee member, said: “Vitol is honoured to extend its relationship with GAIL to a long term LNG supply contract. The growing Indian market is core to Vitol’s strategy and Vitol’s diversified portfolio enables it to offer India a stable supply of cleaner and competitive energy.”

India emerged as the world’s fourth-largest LNG importer in 2024, with demand expected to rise steadily over the next decade. The Government of India has set an ambitious target to increase the share of natural gas in the country's primary energy mix from the current 6% to 15% by 2030. Supporting this vision, India’s LNG regasification capacity has seen substantial growth, nearly doubling from 21 MMTPA in 2014.