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Tokyo, Oct 10 (IANS) India and Japan Wednesday launched a joint study on procuring cheaper liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Middle East and elsewhere. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of India's Planning Commission, and Yukio Edano, Japan's industry minister, signed an agreement on the project after the sixth round of energy dialogue between the two countries, reports the Japanese Kyodo news agency. The joint study would look into the pricing structures in the international LNG market and suggest ways of ensuring stable and cheaper supply of LNG. Both the Asian countries are major LNG importers and spend heavily to meet their energy needs. India's growing economy needs more energy while Japan is facing increasing fuel costs for thermal power generation in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex disaster that has raised questions about the country's reliance on atomic power. "Japan, the world's largest consumer of LNG, and India, a country where large increases in consumption are anticipated in the future, would cooperate ... to ensure the stable and low-cost supply of LNG," the two countries said in a statement issued after the dialogue.
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