By Sadananda Mohapatra, Senior Business Journalist
Lead Story
From Chokepoint to Kharif: India’s Fight to Keep Urea Flowing
India’s state-owned gas supplier GAIL flagged off its LNG carrier Energy Fidelity, a 174,000 cubic metre vessel, from Sabine Pass on the US Gulf Coast on April 20, 2026. This marks the first cargo shipped under India’s long-term LNG agreement with the United States, signed in late 2025.
While the volume is modest for a country of 1.4 billion people, the departure of Energy Fidelity signals something larger: India is actively building a gas supply architecture that does not depend on a single corridor.
As Qatar halted LNG shipments following the Strait of Hormuz closure, the impact landed not just on kitchen cylinders but on farm fields. Natural gas is the primary feedstock for urea production, the fertiliser that drives India’s farm output. Domestic urea output fell sharply in March as gas availability at fertiliser plants dropped and many units ran at reduced capacity. The government’s emergency order of March 9, issued under the Essential Commodities Act, guaranteed fertiliser plants at least 70% of their six-month average gas consumption.
Industry warned at the time that this floor might not be sufficient to sustain normal production through the critical pre-Kharif, or summer sowing, period.
The government moved quickly as the threat proved real. Through fortnightly spot LNG purchases from non-Gulf suppliers, active cargo management and inter-ministerial coordination, gas supply to urea plants has been restored to 95% of their six-month average consumption. The Department of Fertilisers confirmed that LNG availability at plants now stands at approximately 97%, with most urea units back to near full capacity.
The government has pursued a clear two-pronged approach. In the short term, it prioritised fertiliser plants in the gas allocation hierarchy, restored supply through spot LNG purchases from the United States, Oman and West Africa, and tendered direct urea imports at elevated prices to bridge any production gap. Diplomatic engagement with Qatar is also under way, though no fresh supply from that source has been confirmed. For the longer term, it is accelerating LNG source diversification and pushing the expansion of piped natural gas networks under the newly enacted Natural Gas and Petroleum Products Distribution Order, 2026. On the ground, new guidelines now permit LNG to be filled in portable cryogenic cylinders, allowing gas to reach remote areas and industrial users where pipelines cannot yet go, while expedited approvals for compressed gas stations and pressure regulation infrastructure are tightening the last mile of the supply chain.
For now, the fields will be fed. The question is whether the pipes can be secured before the next shock arrives.
Joules Capsule: Weekly Round-Up
ONGC and Japan’s MOL Deepen Energy Shipping Ties
India’s state-owned oil and gas explorer ONGC and Japan’s Mitsui O.S.K. Lines met in New Delhi on April 23 to advance their strategic partnership in maritime energy logistics. The two sides reviewed progress on their joint ventures in ethane shipping and explored new avenues for cooperation in energy transportation. The timing is deliberate: with global shipping routes under pressure from the West Asia crisis, India is quietly strengthening the maritime infrastructure needed to move energy reliably from wherever it can be sourced to where it is needed.
Coal India Maps a Ten-Year Plan to Cut Imports
Coal India Limited is developing a ten-year roadmap to reduce India’s coal imports, currently running at 243 million tonnes annually, through a combination of higher domestic production, coal quality improvements and logistics cost reductions. The plan includes a forensic audit of current import volumes and sector-specific strategies to shift buyers toward domestic supply. For a country spending billions of dollars annually on imported coal while sitting on some of the world’s largest reserves, closing that gap is as much an energy security priority as it is a fiscal one.
India’s Grid Hits Summer Peak as Demand Crosses 255 GW
India’s power grid touched 255 gigawatts on April 25, the highest single-day peak demand recorded this year, as summer heat intensified across the country. The weekly average for April 21 to 27 came in at around 245 gigawatts, a sharp climb from 216 gigawatts just two weeks ago. Grid India’s week-ahead forecast projects demand staying between 228 and 246 gigawatts through the first week of May, with no meaningful cooling in sight. The grid is now in the heart of its annual stress test.
About the Author:
Sadananda Mohapatra is a veteran business journalist with decades of experience covering India’s energy, industry, and economic landscape. With stints at reputed financial news publications like The Business Standard & NewsWire18, he reported extensively on India’s power sector, minerals policy, coal and energy regulation, and industrial developments — building a deep, ground-level understanding of the global energy economy. His work spans corporate affairs, infrastructure, and policy analysis, with a particular focus on eastern India’s resource-rich industrial corridor. He currently writes on the global energy landscape through his newsletter, The Joule’s Stack.
