Speaking at a public event, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced that India will see an investment of whopping Rs. 1.2 lakh crores in its 300 districts by 2021 to expand the reach of CNG dispensing station and pipelined cooking gas to households.
He was addressing the event convened to mark the commencement of work on 50 geographical areas given in the 10th round of bidding to firms. The entities that secured the bid include Adani Gas, Bharat Gas, and Indian Oil Corporation.
MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPEECH-
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- The City gas distribution network has touched a soaring figure of 228 geographical areas from just 34 geographical areas five years ago. Today, These 228 geographical areas cover the swathes of almost 406 districts.
- In last year alone, the license to retailed CNG and piped gas to household kitchens were granted to 136 geographical areas. This translates to the coverage of almost 70 percent of the nation’s population.
- The CNG stations serving to provide environment-friendly fuels has expanded their base from 938 to 1769 in strength. It is expected that the number of stations will be further expanded to 10,000 by 2030.
- Household kitchens getting piped cooking gas have seen doubling in their figure strength.
- With less than 20 percent of the people covered by the city gas distribution network in 2014, the network is set to reach 70 percent.
- A 58,000-inch kilometer of steel pipeline will be laid out for the supply of gas.
In the 10th bid round, almost 2 crore piped natural gas connections have been targeted to be given. With this, 3500 CNG stations will also be installed.
Dharmendra Pradhan said that the all the initiatives are a part of the government’s aim to raise the proportion of natural gas in the energy basket to 15 percent by 2030, which stands at a mere 6.2 percent.
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