New Delhi, August 19: The government has approved a new incentive scheme to speed up the expansion of domestic piped natural gas (PNG) connections and make clean and convenient cooking fuel available to more households across the country.
Pic Credit: Pexel
The scheme, approved by the government, will come into effect from September 1 and will focus on increasing the number of active household PNG connections.
According to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, the initiative is aimed at encouraging City Gas Distribution (CGD) companies to convert existing but inactive connections into working, billed connections while also expanding PNG networks into new areas.
India currently has around 1.74 crore domestic PNG connections. The government expects the incentive to help CGD companies increase the number of households actually using piped gas and improve the utilisation of existing infrastructure.
PNG is considered a cleaner and more convenient cooking fuel compared with conventional household fuels, while its piped supply eliminates the need for regular LPG cylinder handling and delivery.
The scheme will be implemented in two tranches over a period of six months. Under the incentive framework, eligible CGD companies will receive an additional allocation of 200 Standard Cubic Metres of domestically produced gas for every additional billed domestic PNG connection achieved during the specified performance period.
The additional domestic gas allocation is expected to replace a portion of the more expensive liquefied natural gas currently sourced by CGD companies for their Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) transport operations. This is expected to reduce their overall gas procurement costs and provide an incentive to expand domestic PNG connections.
The government said the scheme is intended to create a stronger push for CGD companies to expand household gas access and bring more consumers into the PNG network.
The initiative is part of the broader effort to strengthen India’s city gas distribution network and increase the availability of cleaner cooking fuel for households