Reiterating his commitment to developing a gas-based economy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that in the next 2-3 years, 70 per cent of the country’s population will be connected with the city gas distribution (CGD) network. 

Speaking at an event organised to lay the foundation stones for multiple CGD projects awarded during the ninth round of bids, Modi said, “More than 400 districts covering 70 per cent of India’s population will have access to the CGD facility in the next 2–3 years after the completion of work under the ongoing 10th round of bidding.” 

The CGD projects flagged off by Modi on Thursday are spread across 65 geographical areas (GAs) in 129 districts. These were awarded under the ninth bidding round. During the event, the Prime Minister also launched the 10th CGD Bidding Round in 50 GAs spread over 124 districts in 14 States covering 24 per cent of the country’s population. 

The CGD network is in keeping with what had said in 2015 at the Urja Sangam, a global meet on hydrocarbons. 

At the meet, he had called for enhancing the domestic production to reduce the energy import bill of the country by at least 10 per cent by 2022. He had also said that his government aimed to extend the reach of Piped Natural Gas (PNG) to one crore houses in the next five years.

Growing coverage

In 2014, only 66 districts were covered by the CGD network. But today, CGD projects are being implemented in 174 districts, the Prime Minister said. As per the commitment made by various entities in the ninth bidding round, around 2 crore PNG (domestic) connections and 4,600 CNG stations are expected to be installed in the next eight years across the country. This has expanded the potential coverage of the CGD network to about 50 per cent of population spread over 35 per cent of India’s geography.

In total, 86 GAs were awarded during the ninth round. Of these, two awards were challenged and therefore are sub-judice. Some fall in regions where elections are due, and hence, are under the model code of conduct. This is why the PM laid the foundation stones for projects in just 65 GAs from New Delhi. “The government is focussed on developing a gas-based economy. LNG terminals, a nationwide gas grid and a city gas distribution network are being developed to strengthen the gas infrastructure across the country,” Modi said.

Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan said, “Presently, the share of gas in the country’s energy mix is just over 6 per cent and the aim is to reach the 15 per cent mark, while the world average is 24 per cent.”

“Efforts are not only being made to increase the use and supply of gas, but also to produce gas through agro-wastes and other products and include the same into the CGD network,” Pradhan added.

According to the Ministry, till September, 96 cities or districts in different parts of the country were covered under the CGD network development plan. About 46.5 lakh households and 32 lakh CNG vehicles are availing the benefit of clean fuel through the existing CGD networks.

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