Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel Dharmendra Pradhan has dedicated 56 CNG stations to the nation located in Chandigarh, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh.

 

Speaking on the occasion, the minister said that in the last 6 years, the number of CNG stations has gone up from 947 to over 2,300. He said that presently there are more than 400 districts of the country which are being covered by the City Gas Distribution (CGD) network. Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) is preparing to come out with the 11th round of CGD bidding round after which 50-100 additional districts will get clean fuel.

 

Pradhan said that India is moving towards becoming a gas-based economy and the government is committed to provide infrastructure to facilitate this by laying 17,000 km long pipeline. He said that the places like north eastern states and the eastern India, which were deprived of access to gas, are also being covered. Efforts are underway to complete the National Gas Grid in a time bound manner.

 

He said that the government with the spirit of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas has worked to usher in a blue flame revolution in the country. Over 28 crore households have been provided LPG connections and an ambitious plan to provide 5 crore households with PNG connection is underway. 

 

The Minister expressed his gratitude to the Ministry of Finance and the Reserve Bank of India for facilitating growth of the CBG ecosystem in the country. He said that Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG) has been included in the priority sector by the RBI, which will help the entrepreneurs to get cheaper and easier access to loans.

 

The Minister called upon the entrepreneurs to take advantage of the policy reforms brought in the energy sector. He said that capital requirement for setting up of retail outlets has been reduced from Rs. 2,000 crore to Rs. 250 crore, and even the start-ups can take part in it now. He said that the retail outlets can not only sell the traditional fossil fuels but also dispense gas, and put up electric vehicle charging stations. 

 

Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas Tarun Kapoor said that the government is fully committed to the ushering of gas economy in the country. He called upon the vehicle manufacturers to promote the factory-fitted CNG vehicles.