New Delhi: A total of 3.42 lakh Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) connections have been converted to Piped Natural Gas (PNG) connections since the beginning of March, said the Petroleum Ministry on Friday. “Further, more than 3.7 lakh customers have been registered for new connections,” said a statement. The government has been keen to make LPG users in the country switch to PNG where pipeline connectivity is available to ease the pressure on cylinder supplies against the backdrop of the supply disruptions created in the wake of the West Asia conflict.
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In line with the government’s directions, City Gas Distribution (CGD) companies like Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL), Mahanagar Gas Limited (MGL), GAIL Gas and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) have offered incentives for taking domestic and commercial PNG connections. As a result of these efforts, there has been an increase in the number of PNG connections in the country in the last one month.
The Petroleum Ministry also said, “10 states are getting additional commercial LPG allocation under reform measures of PNG expansion. In addition to this, application from one more state is under examination.” The government had last month promised an additional 10 percent allocation of commercial LPG to states, provided they can help in long-term transition from LPG to PNG.
In the wake of the closure of Strait of Hormuz, India faces a much more acute disruption in the supplies of LPG than natural gas. India depends on imports to meet around 60 percent of its LPG consumption, 90 percent of which was coming via Strait of Hormuz. In comparison, India’s import dependency in natural gas is about 50 percent, 30 percent of which came through the strait.
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Since natural gas supplies were diversified, India is in a better position to arrange supplies from elsewhere to make up for the shortfall. Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, has repeatedly said that the LPG supply situation remains concerning and the government is trying to mitigate the crisis by arranging LPG cargoes from wherever possible and by increasing domestic production of the fuel through diversion of propane and butane streams.