Government sets target to raise share of natural gas in energy mix to 15% by 2030

The government on Monday announced it has set a target to raise the share of natural gas in the energy mix to 15%, from 6.3% currently, in 2030, stated a press release.

Several initiatives have been taken for the same, informed Rameswar Teli, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas. The initiatives include:

• Expansion of National Gas Grid to about 33,500 Km from current 21,715 Km.
• Expansion of City Gas Distribution (CGD) network
• Setting up of Liquefied Natural Gas Terminals.
• Allocation of domestic gas to Compressed Natural Gas (Transport) / Piped Natural Gas (Domestic) in no cut category.
• Allowing marketing and pricing freedom to gas produced from high pressure/high temperature areas, deep water & ultra-deep water and from coal seams.
• Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) initiatives to promote Bio-CNG.

“Providing Piped Natural Gas (PNG) connections and establishment of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations is part of the development of CGD network and the same is carried out by the entities authorized by Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB). The CNG Stations and PNG connections are being provided by authorized entities as per timelines prescribed by PNGRB from time to time,” stated the release.

According to the data revealed by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, a total of 95.21 lakh PNG (Domestic) connections have been provided and 4531 CNG (Transport) stations have been established by the authorized entities as on 31 May, 2022. After completion of 11A city gas distribution (CGD) round, 295 Geographical Areas (GAs) have been authorized which inter alia covers 98% of India’s population and 88% of its GAs.