India, Japan Should Co-operate on Long Term LNG Contracts: Minister

India and Japan should co-operate on long term contracts for LNG with a defined cost of energy which would provide a stabilizing factor for the renewable energy thrust that India is currently giving, Indian minister for power, coal, new & renewable energy and mines, Piyush Goyal said January 11 on the side-lines of the seventh India-Japan Energy Forum in New Delhi.

The minister said that India’s power demand is going to expand four-fold in the next 15 years to become one of the largest energy markets globally and it would open immense business opportunities for Japan.

Being a major LNG importer, India has been advocating for some time that Asian LNG buyers should come together so that they get a better deal in the global market. Large Asian LNG buyers, including India, could benefit by joining hands and thereby, possibly, bring in more equitable trade deals, Indian oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan said during the fifth IEF – IGU Ministerial Gas Forum that was held in New Delhi December 6 on the sidelines of Petrotech 2016.

In 2014, Gail India and Japanese trading house Sumitomo Corporation agreed to work together in the fields of gas procurement and petrochemicals.

Shardul Sharma