Centre dedicates 166 CNG pumps in 14 states; plans to set up 3500 more in 2 years

Jul 16,2022

In a bid to boost the natural gas-based economy, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri dedicated 166 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations to serve the community.

The 166 CNG pumps have been set up by GAIL (India) Limited and nine of its group City Gas Distribution (CGD) companies in 41 Geographical Areas (GAs) across 14 states.

According to Puri, the CNG stations will incentivise the market of such vehicles and will have a positive impact on manufacturing and employment generation.

"It is a key step in expanding the availability of environment-friendly CNG to the transport sector, households, and Industry in India. It'll incentivize the market for CNG vehicles and will have an exponential impact on manufacturing, skill development, and employment generation," said the union minister.

Further, during the inauguration ceremony, the minister also shared some statistics about the CNG station. In 2014 the country had only about 900 CNG stations. At present, the CNG pumps have increased to 4,500 and the Centre is planning to ratchet up 3,500 CNG stations in the next two years, he said.

"In 2014 the country had only about 900 CNG stations. Today we have 4500 CNG stations with plans to take this number to 8000 in the next 2 years. The number of PNG connections has also crossed 95 lakhs as compared to about 24 lakhs in 2014," the union minister said.

He stated that these CNG stations commissioned at the cost of ₹400 Crore will further strengthen the gas-based infrastructure and availability of cleaner fuel in the country. These CNG stations will provide direct employment to about 1,000 persons, he added.

Puri also visited the exhibition on the Promotion of CNG and LNG-based Clean Mobility Technology Vehicles organized by SIAM.

During the interaction, he emphasized the need to reduce vehicular emissions through the adoption of cleaner fuel and technology in the automotive sector.

Today's dedication ceremony is an important step in expanding the availability of environment-friendly and convenient fuel Natural Gas to the transport sector, households, and Industry in the country. Natural Gas is also safer and more economical as compared to most conventional fuels.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set an ambitious target of expanding the share of Natural Gas in the primary energy mix to 15% to usher in a gas-based economy.

The development of a gas-based economy is expected to play a key role in achieving India's target of net zero by 2070.