In a significant step towards realising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of increasing the share of natural gas to 15% in India’s energy basket, Dr Anil Kumar Jain, Chairperson of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB), held a crucial meeting with Banwarilal Purohit, Administrator of the Union Territory (UT) of Chandigarh and Governor of Punjab, on January 19th.
During the meeting held in Chandigarh, Chairperson Dr Anil Jain briefed Governor Purohit on the progress of Oil & Gas Infrastructure, particularly in the UT of Chandigarh. He outlined the tasks undertaken by PNGRB to achieve the ambitious goal of elevating the natural gas share in India’s energy mix. The Chairperson also provided an update on the advancements in promoting natural gas in Punjab, highlighting the environmental benefits and the convenience of using piped natural gas (PNG) for cooking and compressed natural gas (CNG) in transport.
Crucial issues were discussed, including the substitution of polluting solid and liquid fuels with natural gas in industrial and commercial units, rationalisation in land restoration charges, and the value-added tax (VAT) on CNG. Dr Anil Jain emphasised that with the support of the UT Administration, the City Gas Distribution (CGD) licensee aims to provide “HarGhar PNG” by March 2025, aligning with Chandigarh’s clean and green city status.
Governor Purohit acknowledged these efforts and expressed his assurance of providing all possible assistance for the development of natural gas infrastructure in the UT of Chandigarh. The meeting’s discussions are expected to give a significant boost to the integration of natural gas as a clean fuel in Chandigarh’s energy mix.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Dr Anil Jain also met with Nitin Kumar Yadav, IAS, Home Secretary, and Adviser to Administrator, along with the Commissioner of Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh. The discussions focused on issues related to the promotion of natural gas and its increased usage in domestic, transport, industrial, and commercial units. The Home Secretary assured full support from the UT Administration towards achieving these shared goals.
As of November 30, 2023, PNGRB has authorised 300 Geographical Areas across the country, covering 98% of the population and 88% of the area for the development of the CGD Network. PNGRB has set ambitious targets for the future, including providing 12.5 Crore domestic PNG connections, establishing 17,751 CNG stations, and laying 5,42,224 inch-km pipelines by 2032. Current progress indicates that 1.2 Crore domestic PNG connections and 6,159 CNG stations have been established nationwide.
