PM Narendra Modi lays foundation stone of City Gas Distribution Projects

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid foundation stone of City Gas Distribution (CGD) Projects of Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas in 65 Geographical Areas (GAs) in 129 districts under 9th CGD bidding round. He also launched 10th CGD Bidding Round in 50 GAs spread over 124 districts in 14 states.

Natural gas is superior fuel as compared with coal and other liquid fuels, as it is environment friendly, safer and cheaper fuel. It can be supplied through pipelines and hence, there is no need to store cylinders in kitchen and thus saves space. It is environment friendly fuel and its usage as domestic kitchen fuel, as fuel for transport sector as well as fuel for industries and commercial units can play a significant role in reducing carbon emission. It is 60% cheaper compared with petrol and around 45% cheaper when compared with Diesel.

Implementation Process

Around 96 cities and districts in different parts of the country were covered for development of CGD networks till September 2018. As per commitment made by various entities in 9th bidding round, around 2 crore PNG (Domestic) connections and 4600 CNG stations are expected to be installed across the country in next 8 years. Various pre-project activities for these GAs already have commenced and efforts are being made to commence the physical works at the site. To further boost expansion of PNG/CNG network in India, Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) has launched 9th CGD bidding round in April, 2018 for 86 GAs covering 174 districts in 22 States/UTs.

Significance

The development of CGD networks across India is focused to increase availability of cleaner cooking fuel such as PNG and transportation fuel (CNG) to all the citizens of the country. Its expansion will benefit industrial and commercial units by ensuring the uninterrupted supply of natural gas. It will also expand the potential coverage of CGDs to about 50% of country’s population, spreading over 35% of the area.

Background

Currently, share of natural gas in India’s energy mix is just over 6% and aim is to reach 15% figure for mowing towards gas based economy, while world average is 24%. India aims to bring down its carbon emission level and number of initiatives have been taken in this direction such as BS VI fuel, bio-energy, LED bulbs, International Solar Alliance (ISA), Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojana and providing clean piped gas supply to more cities.
India is also be enhancing LNG terminal capacity, renegotiating Indo-Qatar Gas deal and encouraging positive Indo-US engagement in this direction. It is not only focussing on increasing use and supply of gas, but also on producing gas through agro-wastes and other products and including same into CGD network. It has also increased its focus on promoting the usage of environment-friendly clean fuel, natural gas as fuel and feedstock across country to move towards gas based economy.

Month: Current Affairs - November, 2018