New Delhi: The Centre has asked states to fast-track clearances for laying city gas pipelines and waive road restoration and permission charges to speed up infrastructure rollout and the adoption of piped natural gas (PNG) by households amid liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) supply concerns, an official said.
The government is urging both households and commercial LPG users to switch to PNG as the Iran war has disrupted LPG imports, on which India depends for about 60 per cent of its consumption.
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board has also waived imbalance charges for city gas companies, shippers and consumers “as a temporary relief measure in light of the extraordinary circumstances” due to the Iran war. Imbalance charges in gas transport are penalties levied when a shipper’s actual gas offtake or injection deviates from its scheduled quantity on a pipeline network.
The Centre is seeking to address the “structural constraints” that have held back PNG expansion in the country, said Sujata Sharma, joint secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. On Monday, the Centre requested state governments to “issue deemed permission for pending applications for laying city gas distribution (CGD) pipelines; mandate approval of all new CGD permissions within 24 hours; waive road restoration and permission charges levied by state or local authorities; relax working hours and working seasons; and appoint state nodal officers for support, coordination and faster implementation, according to a presentation shared by Sharma.
India has about 10 million active PNG customers, compared with 330 million LPG customers.
