India Gas Demand Set to Rise as Fertilizer Makers Add Capacity

India’s demand for natural gas is set to increase as fertilizer makers spend as much as 50 billion rupees ($1 billion) in the next three years to boost capacity by 35 percent, an official said.

Fertilizer companies may need an additional 24 million cubic meters a day of gas to feed new plants and existing ones that are switching from using naphtha and fuel oil, Satish Chander, director-general of the Fertilizer Association of India, said by telephone from New Delhi.
“We would like to use more gas as it is a cheaper fuel,” Chander said. “We hope we can get this additional gas from Reliance Industries Ltd. and other domestic companies.” He didn’t say which fertilizer companies would increase capacity.

India needs additional fertilizer to increase food output as demand rises in the world’s second fastest-growing major economy. Using gas will lower the cost of making crop nutrients and may cut the subsidy paid to fertilizer companies.

Bloomberg