India exploring ways to reduce long-term gas pricing with Qatar: Dharmendra Pradhan

Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday said that India has been exploring ways to reduce the pricing mechanism of existing long-term gas supply contracts with Qatar.

"HE Al-Kaabi and I also explored ways to make LNG more affordable for a price-sensitive market like India, especially in our long-term contact," the minister said in a tweet after a meeting with the Qatari oil minister Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi and his ministerial delegation as well as Indian officials.

Kaabi is in New Delhi to meet his counterpart.

Qatar has been a long-standing energy partner for India, with hydrocarbons accounting over 75 per cent of all bilateral trade.

Qatar is the largest source of India's Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) supply.

"India's appetite for energy, particularly gas is increasing considerably. We see an enormous potential to further expand India-Qatar energy ties and also expect to increase our bilateral engagements beyond buyer-seller relationship," the minister said.

"The surge in India's energy requirements will not be incremental but exponential. India is rapidly expanding its gas infrastructure to cater to the needs of nearly 70 per cent of our population. An estimated investment of USD 60 billion is lined up in building the gas infrastructure," Pradhan stated.