New Delhi [India], April 9 : Managing Director of Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL), Kamal Kishore Chatiwal, on Thursday said the pace of piped natural gas (PNG) connections across India has become three times faster compared to the pre-war period (US-Iran war), with the industry targeting 30,000 new connections per day going ahead.
"The connection that we used to have in the pre-war period has become three times faster in today's date. Earlier, it used to be 3-4 thousand in the entire India, but now it has become 10-12 thousand," he said.
Speaking on gas availability and expansion of the city gas distribution network, Chatiwal said the entire City Gas Distribution (CGD) industry has significantly accelerated connection rollout after various operational hurdles were addressed.
He added that the industry aims to scale up the rollout further in line with targets set by the regulator.
"And the target that has been given to us by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB), we are seeing that it will reach 30,000 connections per day. When the entire CGD industry works together, there will be 30,000 connections per day," Chatiwal said.
On the availability of gas for households, the IGL MD said the domestic PNG segment currently consumes only a small share of the total gas supply, making it secure and stable.
"Household gas, the piped gas that is coming into the house, we can see it as the safest," he said.
He added that the country's domestic gas production is sufficient to meet demand from household consumers.
"The total household gas that we are using right now is approximately 3.8 million per day. Leave aside the imported gas, the household gas production itself is approximately 100 million standard cubic meters per day. So, we are using 3-4 per cent gas in the domestic PNG segment, so there is no problem in that, and it is 100 per cent safe," Chatiwal said.
He also noted that the government has prioritised supply to households.
"The government has kept it as a top priority, so because of this, we are not facing any problem," he added.
Chatiwal further said that a large number of existing but inactive PNG connections can be quickly activated to expand usage.
"Today, if I tell you in terms of figures, there are around 60 lakh connections in the entire country which are already connected, but they are not taking gas for any reason," he said.
"So we have an immediate ready-made number which we can immediately gasify," he added, expressing confidence that the number of PNG users will rise sharply.
"I believe that within the next year, the 1 crore will double," Chatiwal said.
Highlighting efforts to encourage more households to switch to PNG, he said several payment schemes have been introduced to reduce the upfront cost of connection.
"There are many schemes in it, like the scheme of one rupee per day," he said.
"Apart from this, those who are giving 6,000 rupees, we are giving 500 rupees of gas for free, which we have extended till June," Chatiwal added, noting that EMI options are also available for consumers.
"So now the consumer who is not in a position to pay 6,000, there are many such schemes for him that he can switch immediately," he said.
Chatiwal also urged consumers who have both LPG and PNG connections to consider giving up LPG cylinders as the PNG supply remains adequate.
"In fact, we have many LPG connections where we are using LPG as well as gas connections. So we are requesting people to surrender their LPG connection. There is gas, and there is no problem in that," he said.
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