The government is now going to accelerate its ambitious plan to replace LPG cylinders with natural gas (PNG) directly into homes through pipelines across the country. Starting September 1st, city gas distribution companies will be allocated an additional 200 SCM of cheap domestic natural gas per connection to rapidly increase the number of new PNG connections.
The main objective of the government is not only to connect new domestic customers to this network, but also to pay special attention to those houses where connections are already installed but are inactive due to some reason.
The incentive scheme will be implemented in two phases.
Under this new special scheme formulated by the government, eligible City Gas Distributor (CGD) companies will be given 200 standard cubic meters (SCM) of additional domestic gas per connection for providing new and active billing domestic PNG connections in their designated areas in excess of the target set.
This policy will be implemented nationwide effective September 1st and will be completed in two phases of six months each. The additional gas provided under this scheme will be relatively inexpensive APM natural gas produced in India.
Gas companies will get huge financial relief
According to the Petroleum Ministry, this additional, cheaper APM gas will significantly reduce CGD companies' dependence on purchasing expensive imported LNG from the international market. This will directly reduce gas companies' total gas procurement costs, making their capital investments in expanding domestic PNG infrastructure more profitable.
According to government estimates, with the implementation of this scheme, the recovery time of the huge investment made on the domestic PNG network is likely to reduce from about 10 years to just 3 years.
PNG connections in the country crossed 1.74 crore
Currently, there are over 17.4 million domestic PNG connections in operation across India. The central government continues to promote piped natural gas as a more convenient, safe, and relatively clean fuel compared to traditional LPG cylinders.
The biggest advantage of using PNG is that consumers don't have to endure the hassle of repeatedly booking refills or waiting for delivery when their cylinder runs out. Pipelines provide uninterrupted gas supply to their kitchens 24 hours a day, and consumers pay only the gas used based on their monthly meter reading.
Government's emphasis on adopting PNG instead of LPG
In view of the various challenges posed to the uninterrupted supply of LPG to the global market during the recent West Asia crisis, the Government has increased its focus manifold on rapid expansion of the domestic PNG network.
According to official government data, more than 500,000 new PNG connections have been fully gasified (gas supply activated) across the country since March of this year. More than 570,000 new consumers have registered for PNG connections. The government is encouraging consumers to surrender LPG and is actively promoting the conversion of housing societies to PNG through PNG Drive 2.0.
