NEW DELHI: The petroleum ministry will soon send a proposal to the Cabinet to set up a gas trading exchange that will replace the current pricing structure for natural gas, Dharmendra Pradhan, Union minister of petroleum and natural gas, said here on Tuesday.
“We will very soon prepare the Cabinet note for a gas exchange that will help in determining the market price for gas,” Pradhan said on the sidelines of CERAWeek India Energy Forum. The country will gradually move towards market-determined prices for gas, Pradhan said. He added that priority sectors will get gas at government-determined prices during the transition. The ministry is planning to set up a think-tank to take advice on policy reforms and will consist of industry representatives and experts from India and abroad.
Pradhan also said the government is exploring an investment opportunity of $300 billion in hydrocarbons sector over the next 10 years. The petroleum ministry also launched a new ‘Forum for Energy for New India’.
“Development and energy have reached the West of our country more quickly and effectively than the East. Our government and my ministry are changing this situation by focusing on the growth of energy infrastructure,” said Pradhan.
The minister threw a challenge to the industry asking them to put one of India’ basins in the north-east on Super Basin list: Cambay, or the KG Basin. He was referring to the term coined by IHS Markit ‘Super Basins’ for 25 basins around the world that have at least 5 billion barrels of oil equivalent of recoverable resources remaining.
“We are looking for new business models to diversify our electricity generation by combining gas and renewables and energy storage,” said Pradhan.