(PTI)
India has for the first time ever signed a contract to import liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from Iran as it looks at additional sources of cooking fuel to meet rising domestic demand. State-owned oil firms will import one very large gas carrier (VLGC), or 44,000 tonnes, per month for an initial six-month period, industry sources said.India imports almost a million tonnes of LPG every month to meet rising demand that has been further fuelled by the government drive to give free gas connections to poor women. LPG consumption in 2016-17 rose 9.8 per cent to 21.55 million tonnes.
Of this, 11 million tonnes came from imports.India mainly imports LPG via term contracts from major Middle Eastern producers Saudi Aramco, Qatar’s Tasweeq, Abu Dhabi National Oil Co and Kuwait Petroleum Corp. Sources said LPG imports will rise over the next three years to 16-17 million tonnes as the government pushes for making available cooking gas cylinders to the poor and wean them off polluting fuels.The country is looking to import LPG from Bangladesh.
