Centre launches National PNG Drive 3.0 to boost natural gas in India's energy mix

New Delhi, October 1 (IANS): Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri launched the National PNG Drive 3.0 on Thursday with the aim of accelerating adoption of piped natural gas (PNG) to strengthen India's vision of increasing the share of natural gas in the primary energy mix from around 6 per cent today, supporting cleaner, reliable and affordable energy.

The drive launched at the event celebrating the 20th Foundation Day of PNGRB, is being organised from October 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027, the Drive, in collaboration with the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board Act, city gas distribution entities, public sector oil marketing companies and other stakeholders.

It aims to encourage the shift from LPG to PNG, and make better use of existing infrastructure.

The Minister said that the focus will be on activating dormant connections, maximising existing city gas distribution (CGD) networks, expanding PNG in semi-urban and rural areas, and connecting new consumers.

With 6,87,966 inch-km of pipeline already laid, there is potential for another 1.30 crore connections.

The drive targets 50 lakh new domestic piped natural gas connections, 40 lakh conversions to active users, and another 50 lakh domestic piped natural gas registrations.

Earlier, under the PNG Drive 2.0 ensured 12.10 lakh connections, 13.37 lakh billed connections and 15.31 lakh DPNG registrations.

Daily domestic piped natural gas (DPNG) additions rose 43 per cent while billed consumer additions increased 166 per cent.

PNG Drive 3.0 will take this progress further and provide clean, convenient and reliable PNG to many more households across India, the Minister added.

With the aim to increase the availability of natural gas across the country, PNGRB has authorised around 34,233 km of NGPL network which include common carrier, spur line, tie-in connectivity and dedicated pipeline across the country to various entities, of which 25,429 km have been made operational as on June 2025.

As much as 10,459 km length of pipelines is under various stages of construction.

The Union government have taken various measures to implement 'One Nation, One Gas Grid' which includes approving key trunk pipelines, providing viability gap funding in low-demand areas, introducing a unified tariff, accelerating expansion of CGD network and setting up of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminals.

The expansion of gas pipeline networks offers enhanced access to clean, reliable and affordable energy, improving household convenience, reducing dependence on traditional fuels across rural areas, industrial clusters and City Gas Distribution networks.

In industrial areas, assured gas supply at competitive prices strengthens manufacturing competitiveness, attracts new investments, reduces operational costs and fosters job creation.

Within CGD networks, the availability of CNG and PNG promotes cleaner mobility and domestic energy usage, leading to improved air quality and greater environmental sustainability.