The Centre is working on a plan to significantly boost the footprint of Piped Natural Gas (PNG) connections in the country.

“India is moving towards becoming a gas-based economy. There are at present 62.5 lakh PNG connections in the country and we are targeting to have 5 crore connections. Work has already begun to achieve this target,” said Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan.

He was speaking at a ceremony to dedicate 56 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations to the nation. “The number of CNG stations has gone up from 947 to over 2300 in the last six years. This will be increased to 10,000 in the coming 4-5 years,” he said.

Pradhan also said that there are plans to open 100 Liquified Natural Gas pumps. These will be situated near mining blocks, and along the Golden Quadrilateral, East-West Corridor and North-South corridor. Their purpose is to facilitate cheaper long distance transport.

The CNG stations dedicated to the nation on Thursday are spread across the 13 States of Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, and Andhra Pradesh, and also the Union Territory of Chandigarh.

Pradhan said at present more than 400 districts of the country are being covered by the City Gas distribution (CGD) network.

“The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) is also preparing to come out with 11th round of CGD bidding round, after which 50-100 additional districts will get the clean fuel,” he said.

Om Compressed Bio-gas (CBG), Pradhan said it has been included in the priority sector by the Reserve Bank of India. This will help entrepreneurs get cheaper and easier access to loans. He also urged those setting up CGD networks to develop CBG projects in their vicinity to get access to the fuel.

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