India exploring long-term gas contracts at $5/mmbtu: Piyush Goyal

NEW DELHI: India is exploring gas purchase contracts spanning 10-15 years for power projects at a fixed price of $5 per mmbtu, power, coal and renewable energy minister Piyush Goyal said.

Goyal said with about 28 GW of stranded gas assets, the country is a huge and promising market as long as the prices are right. "Given the current Baltic index, I believe this is a viable proposition,” the minister said at a renewable energy investors round table co-hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry and the US India Business Council in New York on Thursday.

Goyal projected India’s growth to be in double digits by next year, the caveat being that the country needs to get a strong monsoon. The country is open to help power sector investors hedge risk by linking the debt to a basket of currencies or exploring inflation linked tariffs,” he said.

During his visit to the UK and the US, the minister discussed the need for a stable and simplified policy and regulatory regime, standardised power purchase contracts and equipment standardisation with the investors.