Natural gas is recognised as a transition fuel for India’s clean-energy growth. The country is rapidly expanding its gas infrastructure – domestic pipelines, city networks and LNG terminals (capacity up 27% to 66.7 Mtpa by 2030) – to meet the goal of 15% gas in the energy mix by 2030. This implies roughly quadrupling demand via LNG imports and tapping domestic sources (CBM, shale). ESOI supports innovations in gas technology: improving LNG regasification efficiency, reducing pipeline losses, and developing resources like methane hydrates or synthetic natural gas from biomass/coal. It also fosters advanced upstream methods (e.g. enhanced oil recovery, AI-driven exploration) to increase domestic production. By linking industry and research, ESOI helps integrate gas as a reliable partner to renewables, enhancing energy security while curbing emissions.