India to Have 10,000 CNG Stations: Minister
India is expected to have around 10,000 compressed natural gas (CNG) stations in the next ten years, country's oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan said September 6 in New Delhi during an industry event. The south Asian nation at present has about 1,400 CNG stations.
India last month announced the results of the ninth city gas distribution (CGD) bidding round which was launched by the government earlier this year. During the ninth round 86 areas covering 174 districts in 22 states and union territories were open for bidding. A total of 406 bids were received for the 86 areas; and 35 entities participated in the process. Pradhan said that the government has also started preparing for the 10th CGD bidding round.
The minister said that Indian government is working on expanding the share of gas in overall energy mix and has taken several important decisions to boost the usage of gas. He said that the government is for the first time directly funding a pipeline project: the 2,655 Km Jagdishpur-Haldia & Bokaro-Dhamra Natural Gas Pipeline (JHBDPL) project, also known as the Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga project. The project was inaugurated by Indian prime minister Narendra Modi in July 2015. The pipeline will supply gas to underserved eastern states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha. State-owned Gail is executing the project.
Pradhan further said that India has stepped up procurement of LNG under long-term contracts. He said that when Narendra Modi government came to power in 2014, India had 7mn mt/yr long-term LNG contact with Qatar. “We now have long-term LNG contracts to the tune of 19mn mt/yr with supplies coming in not only from Qatar but also Australia, US and Russia,” he said.