	Introduction

As India's economy continues to grow, its energy needs, including for natural gas, will likely grow as well. Its population is expected to surpass China as the world's largest by 2022, reaching approximately 1.4 billion people, creating greater demand for energy. By 2050, India has the potential to overtake the United States as the world's second-largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP). However, these changes likely will take significant investment and commitment from the Indian government to reach fruition. This consumption comes from domestically produced and imported LNG, which has been growing. Indian energy companies have also signed contracts to import U.S. LNG. Issues for Congress

Some Members of Congress have been interested in enhancing energy cooperation between the United States and India since the mid-2000s. Bills were introduced in both houses that would support closer energy ties between the two countries; however, none were enacted into law. India's natural gas plans have implications for a number of issues in which Congress has expressed an interest. Those issues include the following:
Prospects for U.S. natural gas exports; Prospects for U.S. energy companies' investments in India; Indian investment in the U.S. energy sector; India's ability to meet its global commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to combat climate change; India's ability to reduce its chronic air pollution problems, especially in New Delhi, where recently smog has reached 16 times levels deemed safe; and India's political and economic relationships with regions such as the Middle East, a major supplier of LNG, and Central Asia, a potential supplier of natural gas via pipelines. Background: Government Control of Natural Gas

For years, oil and natural gas exploration in India was carried out only by state-owned companies like Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India Limited (OIL). With India's energy use expected to double by 2040, in 2016 the Modi government introduced the Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP), a new scheme intended to enhance domestic oil and gas production, entice major investment into the sector, and increase employment. The GoI oversees four main ministries devoted to energy production, along with the Department of Atomic Energy. Within the MoPNG are 
11 public sector undertakings (PSUs) focused on petroleum and natural gas; the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), which largely manages the awarding and implementation of the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) scheme; the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell, which is responsible for periodically revising natural gas prices under the guidelines set in 2014; and the Petroleum Conservation Research Association, which promotes policies and strategies aimed at reducing India's dependence on oil. A third state-run company, Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL), is India's largest commercial marketer and domestic distributor of natural gas. Petronet is now publicly traded on the National Stock Exchange of India and is a major player in India's growing LNG market, operating two of India's largest LNG import terminals. It is unclear if the government intends to change course and place greater emphasis on natural gas in India's energy mix or not. Indian companies are increasingly investing in U.S. gas projects in the hope of improving technical expertise that can eventually be used on the 17 potential shale oil and gas well sites along the coasts of India. India's total reserves are estimated to represent only 0.8% of the global total, but data are scarce for many of India's sedimentary basins and require additional scientific exploration in order to better assess their potential for producing natural gas. If India is to increase reliance on natural gas, it would also require improving existing infrastructure and building new infrastructure.
India's population is expected to surpass China as the world's largest by 2022, reaching approximately 1.4 billion people, creating greater demand for energy. India has the potential to be a much larger producer and consumer of natural gas. Competing political and economic factors have limited the government's effectiveness in changing the country's energy mix, which is heavily weighted toward coal and oil. Continually beset by high-profile environmental issues such as major air pollution and contaminated water supplies due to their reliance on coal and oil, the Indian government is now setting policies to increase lower-carbon energy use, but whether the government can overcome the economic and political hurdles remains a question. The portion of natural gas in India's energy mix, 7%, remains small compared to that of the United States, though it is comparable to similar emerging economies like Brazil, China, and South Africa. Despite India's intentions to double the proportion of natural gas consumption by 2022, achieving this goal would require major upstream, midstream, and downstream investments as well as the continued political will to enact the necessary changes to decrease reliance on coal and oil.
India's natural gas plans have implications for a number of issues in which Congress has expressed an interest. Those issues include the prospects for U.S. hydrocarbon exports, U.S. energy companies' investments, Indian investments in U.S. natural gas production, India's ability to meet its international commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to combat climate change, and India's plans for integrating itself into the growing South Asian energy market. In the mid-2000s, Members of both houses of Congress expressed interest to formalize closer energy ties between the United States and India, and legislation was introduced. The legislation was not enacted into law; however, the executive branch has implemented programs to further improve the energy partnership between the two nations.
India's central government manages its energy sector mainly via four ministries: Power; Coal; Petroleum and Natural Gas; and New and Renewable Energy; along with the Department of Atomic Energy. Decades ago the Government of India created entities designated "Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs)" to ensure complete control of the petroleum logistics chain. These PSUs have become some of India's largest companies. The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL), and Indian Oil Corporation Limited are consistently ranked among the world's bigger energy companies. The PSUs are India's primary international and domestic energy actors, although some private sector companies have become key players as well. However, government control of the energy sector has stymied India's development of its domestic resources and hindered its efforts internationally. In the past decade, India has incentivized foreign access to its upstream sector as a way to increase domestic production. Some of India's energy companies are also investing more in U.S. energy projects and have signed contracts to import U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Due to limited drilling activity and available information, how much technically recoverable natural gas exists in India is unclear. However, India's current assessment of total reserves—resources that are economically and technically viable under existing market conditions—is estimated to represent less than 1% of the global natural gas total. As India attempts to shift away from coal and oil over the coming decades, natural gas production, especially from offshore resources, is seen as a way to increase domestic supply. Combined with improving infrastructure for imported LNG, India could become a bigger natural gas consumer in the future.