NEW DELHI: More than 70% of India’s population will get access to piped natural gas services, up from 20% five years back, once the projects awarded in the 10th auction of licences for setting up CNG and PNG networks are completed, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Friday.
Handing over the latest batch of 12 LoIs (letters of intent) covering 50 geographical areas auctioned in the 10th round, Pradhan said the government is concentrating on increasing domestic production of gas along with the expansion of the gas distribution network.
“This will greatly help India become self-sufficient for its energy needs, lower our import dependence and help save foreign exchange,” Pradhan said. The minister’s statement underpins the fact that CNG and PNG cost less than convention fuels – petrol or diesel and LPG, respectively – because these services are fully run on domestic gas, which is cheaper than natural gas imported in ships.
