With an aim to create a national gas grid and augment the supply and availability of natural gas across the country, Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) authorized approximately 33,764 Km Natural Gas Pipeline Network across the country on 31st March of this year.
According to the regulations, the approved Natural Gas pipeline entity is permitted to lay spur lines. 19,998 kilometers of the natural gas pipeline (including sub-transmission and tie-in connection pipelines) are operating, while 15,369 kilometers are under construction at various stages. The current and planned pipelines will create a basic National Gas Grid in the country.
Government’s decisions to promote the use of Clean Energy:
The development of City Gas Distribution (CGD) networks promotes the availability and accessibility of natural gas in the form of piped natural gas (PNG) for residential and industrial uses, as well as compressed natural gas (CNG) for transportation. According to the PNGRB Act of 2006, organizations are authorized to build CGD networks in Geographical Areas (GAs).
-PNGRB identifies Geographical Areas for the expansion of the CGD network in synchronization with the development of natural gas pipeline connectivity and natural gas availability. Till now, 232 GAs have been authorized for the development of CGD network across the country up to 10th CGD Bidding Round covering more than 400 districts in 27 States/Union Territories (UTs), which covers around 71% of India’s population and 53% of its area in the country.
-With an aim to promote and sustain an efficient and robust gas market and foster gas trade in the nation, PNGRB granted authorization to Indian Gas Exchange Ltd last year to set up and operate Gas Exchange.
-Furthermore, to make natural gas affordable in remote areas, PNGRB has notified Unified Tariff Regulations by way of Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board Second Amendment Regulations, 2020.
-In order to reduce fuel emissions by increasing the share of LNG in India’s energy mix and to promote the usage of cleaner fuels in the future, PNGRB has allowed any entity to establish and operate LNG Stations in any GA (Geographical Areas) or anywhere else in the country for dispensing LNG in the liquid state, but only to the transport sector.
About Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation
Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) initiative was launched in October 2018 with the goal of creating an ecosystem for the production of Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) from various waste and biomass sources in the country.
It also envisages developing 5,000 CBG plants with a total CBG production capacity of 15 Million Metric Tonne Per Annum (MMTPA). Currently, 2 CBG plants which are located at Kolhapur and Pune are functional and their produced CBG is being sold to the Auto sector.
The VGF for the Jagdishpur-Haldia and Bokaro-Dhamra Natural Gas Pipeline (JHBDPL) and the North East Gas Grid (NEGG) projects have also been authorized by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).
CCEA in its meeting which took place in 2016, approved 40% Capital Grant that is Rs 5,176 crore of the estimated capital cost of Rs 12,940 crore (including inflation and interest during construction) by the Government to GAIL Limited for the execution of Jagdishpur-Haldia and Bokaro-Dhamra Natural Gas Pipeline Projects and for that, this year in May, Govt released 4,486.748 crore to GAIL under this scheme.
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