New Delhi, January 2026.

At India Energy Week 2026, industry experts emphasized that India’s energy transition will be defined by coordinated action across sectors and policy stakeholders rather than isolated technologies. As energy demand continues to rise, collaboration between infrastructure developers, suppliers, and technology providers is seen as essential for a resilient energy system.

The discussions underlined that reliability and affordability are now as critical as emissions reduction in India’s energy landscape. Natural gas and LNG are being positioned as practical transition fuels that support industrial growth and cleaner transport while complementing renewable energy expansion.

According to Kenneth Foo, Global Director for LNG price reporting, S&P Global Energy, “As global LNG supply growth accelerates, India is increasingly a benchmark-driven swing buyer, stepping into the spot or short-term markets during dislocations between WIM vs Henry Hub vs Brent linked-pricing. India imported just under 26 mtpa of LNG in 2025. An additional 3.5–4 mtpa of long-term contracted volumes is set to start delivering from 2026.”

Experts noted that the expansion of the National Gas Grid and City Gas Distribution (CGD) networks are critical components in reducing the carbon footprint of the transport and domestic sectors.

Abhilesh Gupta, MD and CEO, THINK Gas, said the next phase of growth will be driven by coordination rather than siloed efforts.

“Natural gas offers India a realistic pathway to reduce emissions without slowing economic activity. To unlock its full potential, upstream suppliers, CGD players, policymakers and technology providers need to work in sync. When infrastructure expansion is matched with stable policy and customer-focused execution, gas can support industry, mobility and households at scale.”

The role of technology and data was also flagged as a critical enabler, particularly in improving billing transparency, demand management and system reliability across gas networks.

Gaurav Semwal, CEOGas Business at Polaris Smart Metering, noted that digital infrastructure will increasingly shape how gas fits into India’s transition.

“As natural gas consumption grows, utilities will need better visibility and control across the network. Smart metering and data-led operations can help reduce losses, improve customer confidence and make gas systems more efficient. This is essential if gas is to play a long-term role in India’s cleaner energy mix.”

According to Pulkit Agarwal, Head of India Content, S&P Global Energy, “India’s City gas sector remains the clear growth driver for gas markets growth with city gas infra push over the last few years yielding volume growth. CGD consumption continues to grow by 8.8% even as overall gas consumption moderated, taking the share of CGD in overall gas demand to 23% from 20% last year. The country has almost tripled the number of automotive CNG stations and doubled the number of domestic gas (PNG) connections in the last five years.”

With the government’s target of a 15% gas share by 2030 serving as a north star, the focus now shifts from strategic dialogue to the rapid execution of pipeline infrastructure and city gas networks, ensuring that India’s path to Net Zero remains both economically viable and socially inclusive.