Despite the rapid expansion of piped natural gas (PNG) framework in the country, the Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) segment will continue to grow in the near future, before it is phased down, analysts said.
“As for the switching from LPG to PNG, the fact is that there is a new cohort of customers coming in for the former.. both segments are growing,” said Pankaj Jain, secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas while addressing the media during the launch of 12th city gas distribution bidding tender.
“There are places where PNG is going to struggle, given the geography of our country and the land, Jain said.
The country still has a huge number of villages without even 200 households. For these places, PNG infrastructure may not be economically feasible.
The government earlier this month raised the subsidy on cooking gas (LPG) being sold under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), by Rs 100 to Rs 300/cylinder, a move that will benefit 96 million families, and the cost the exchequer Rs 1,500-1,800 crore in the remainder of the current fiscal year.
The targeted support to PMUY consumers is aimed encouraging them for continuous use of LPG.
The government expects natural gas production which has stagnated for long to increase with the new pricing policy, helping the country to reduce dependence on imports.