India’s natural gas market witnessed significant developments in April 2025, marked by record trade volumes on the Indian Gas Exchange (IGX) and a notable drop in prices, driven by increased LNG supplies in the international market and improved availability of domestic gas.
According to the Gas IndeX of India (GIXI), the average gas price for April stood at ₹1,057 or $12.4 per MMBtu. This represents a 40% increase on a year-on-year (YoY) basis but a 13% decline compared to the previous month, indicating a downward trend primarily due to rising global LNG supplies and greater domestic gas availability. Similarly, international spot gas benchmarks exhibited a mixed trend: the Dutch TTF averaged $11.6 per MMBtu, up 27% YoY but down 13% month-on-month (MoM), while the West India Marker (WIM) averaged $12.52 per MMBtu, rising 16% YoY and falling 12% MoM. The U.S. Henry Hub (HH) price was recorded at $3.45 per MMBtu, up a substantial 94% YoY but down 16% MoM.
IGX reported a record monthly trade volume of 15.9 million MMBtu, equivalent to 400 million standard cubic meters (MMSCM), reflecting a staggering 540% surge compared to April 2024 and a 205% increase from March 2025. Of the total traded volume, 84% comprised High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) domestic gas sold at the ceiling price of ₹861 or $10.04 per MMBtu, 16% was free market gas, and 0.75 million MMBtu came from pricing freedom gas from Bokaro (CBM), KG Basin, and ONGC Hazira.
In total, 290 trades were executed during the month. The most active delivery point for free market gas was Dahej, while Gadimoga led in volume for ceiling price gas, owing to higher sales from domestic producers. Other prominent delivery points included Mhaskal, KG Basin, Bokaro, Mallavaram, Hazira, and Dabhol. Exchange-traded deliveries amounted to approximately 6.6 million MMBtu, translating to a daily average of 5.6 MMSCMD.
April also marked a milestone for IGX with the execution of its first Long Duration Contract (LDC) trade, covering a three-month period from May to July 2025. The trade, for 0.32 million MMBtu, was executed at the Hazira delivery point and was indexed to the Platts West India Marker (WIM).
Regionally, GIXI-West stood at ₹1,070 or $12.5 per MMBtu, 1.2% higher than the all-India average. In contrast, GIXI-East and GIXI-South were priced lower due to transmission and tax differentials, at ₹1,005 ($11.7/MMBtu) and ₹975 ($11.4/MMBtu), respectively. GIXI for Dahej in March was ₹1,026 or $12 per MMBtu, nearly 15% lower MoM and trading at a significant discount of $2.7/MMBtu or 18% compared to the WIM ex-Dahej price for April.
Currently, IGX facilitates gas trading at 17 delivery points, including five LNG terminals, nine domestic gas field landfall points, and three pipeline interconnection points. The exchange offers delivery-based trading across seven types of spot contracts Intraday, Day-Ahead, Daily, Weekday, Weekly, Fortnightly, and Monthly allowing trades up to twelve months in advance. It also offers two Long Duration Contracts for three and six months, linked to benchmarks such as GIXI, JKM, WIM, and Dated Brent.
In terms of contract preference, the Daily contract saw the highest activity with 108 trades, followed by Monthly (107 trades), Weekly (49 trades), Day-Ahead (13 trades), Fortnightly (12 trades), and one trade in the newly introduced 3-Month contract.
