India’s natural gas production is expected to double from the current 95 million cubic metres a day (MCMD) to over 190 MCMD by March 2009, Oil Minister Murli Deora told a Parliamentary Committee.

Briefing a Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to his ministry Deora said also that coal bed methane (CBM) production in the country is expected to begin in 2007-08, a ministry  statement said.
“CBM gas production is envisaged at 3.78 billion cubic metres, or about 10 MCMD,” it said, adding this will make India one of the few countries commercially producing CBM.
India has so far awarded 26 CBM blocks covering an area of 13,600 sq km.
As of April 1, 2006 the companies operating the CBM blocks had invested 1.7 billion rupees, the statement said.