Central govt asks states to appoint nodal officers to speed up PNG adoption

The Petroleum Ministry has asked states and Union Territories to provide district-level administrative support to accelerate the shift of households from LPG to piped natural gas (PNG), seeking appointment of nodal officers to coordinate with gas distributors and oil marketing companies.

In an August 21 letter to state chief secretaries, Petroleum Secretary Neeraj Mittal said PNG, as a safer, cleaner and more efficient cooking fuel, has an important role in advancing India's energy transition while reducing the logistics burden associated with LPG distribution and improving consumer convenience.

"PNG brings a safer, cleaner and more efficient cooking fuel, playing a critical role in advancing the country's energy transition objectives. Its accelerated adoption contributes to reducing the logistics burden associated with LPG distribution, enhancing consumer convenience, and improving utilisation of CGD infrastructure created through substantial public and private investment," Mittal said in the letter.

The ministry is seeking district-level intervention as it moves to implement a regulatory framework aimed at preventing households from retaining both LPG and PNG connections in areas where piped gas is available.

The push for faster adoption of gas piped to households for cooking purposes, called PNG, follows the disruption to India's LPG supply chains during the West Asia crisis earlier this year. LPG was among the fuels most exposed to the conflict because India imports a large share of its cooking-gas requirement, with much of those supplies coming from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kuwait and moving through the Strait of Hormuz.

The disruption forced the government to prioritise domestic LPG supplies, with commercial and industrial consumers facing restrictions before supplies were progressively restored.