PNG–India Talks Signal Major LNG Prospects: Maru Meets Maharashtra Leader
Papua New Guinea’s trade mission to India moved into a new phase this week as International Trade and Investment Minister Richard Maru met Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai. The talks focused on India’s growing appetite for LNG as it phases out coal-fired generation.
Minister Maru said the discussions highlighted Maharashtra’s interest in securing dependable long-term gas suppliers, with PNG emerging as one of the options under consideration. He said the state is also looking at direct investment in PNG’s LNG developments to support its transition plans.
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| PNG–India Talks Signal Major LNG Prospects: Maru Meets Maharashtra Leader |
“The Maharashtra State has consistently been the largest state economy of India and a crucial engine for national growth, contributing over 15 percent to the national GDP and leading in foreign direct investments,” Maru said.
He stressed that PNG must move decisively to compete with major LNG-producing nations. “We are competing with the rest of the world including Australia and Middle East countries that produce LNG so we have to be aggressive to secure lock down opportunities like this,” he said.
Talks also widened to include potential investment in a steel manufacturing plant in PNG through Lloyds Metals and Energy Limited, along with opportunities in agriculture, fisheries, manufacturing, hospitality and tailoring.
Both sides agreed to host the first PNG–India Investment Summit in Mumbai next year, an event Maru said would help draw Indian investors into PNG’s Special Economic Zones.
He added that India’s rapid economic growth places it among PNG’s most promising future markets. “It can be a huge market for us and a major investor starting with investing in our gas industry and becoming one of our biggest LNG customers,” he said.
Maru said he appreciated the Chief Minister’s engagement and was optimistic about building on the discussions early in 2026. “We must always remember that other countries that are currently involved in our oil and gas sector including Australia, USA and France will never be our customers; it is Japan, Taiwan, China and now possibly India who will be our big gas buyers into the future and it is important that we secure the market for our gas projects that are in the pipeline,” he said.
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