Petroleum board Chairperson meets Punjab Governor; briefs on steps undertaken by govt to increase share of Natural Gas

New Delhi [India], January 21 (ANI): Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) Chairperson Dr Anil Kumar Jain met the Administrator of the Union Territory of Chandigarh and the Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Saturday in Chandigarh and briefed the Governor about the progress of oil and gas Infrastructure.
According to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, the chairperson briefed the Governor about the progress of Oil and Gas Infrastructure mainly in the UT of Chandigarh and tasks being undertaken by PNGRB towards realising the Prime Minister's vision to increase the share of Natural Gas to 15 per cent in India's energy basket.
He also briefed the Governor on the progress in the promotion of natural gas in Punjab. The inherent environmental benefits and convenience of the use of piped natural gas in cooking and CNG in transport were emphasised.
"Important issues like the substitution of polluting solid and liquid fuels by Natural Gas in Industrial and Commercial units, rationalisation in land Restoration charges, VAT on CNG, etc. were discussed during the meeting," the Ministry stated.
Dr Anil Jain emphasised that with the support of UT Administration the CGD licensee will be ready to provide "HarGhar PNG" by Mar 2025. It will be in the interest of the city's status as a clean and green city.
The Governor appreciated the same and assured all possible assistance for the development of natural gas infrastructure in the UT of Chandigarh.
On the sidelines of the meeting, the PNGRB Chairperson also met Nitin Kumar Yadav, IAS, Home Secretary, Adviser to Administrator, and Commissioner, MC, Chandigarh.
During the meeting, issues for the promotion of Natural Gas and its increased usage in Domestic, Transport, Industrial and commercial units were discussed.
The Home Secretary also assured the full support of the UT Administration towards this shared goal. The above discussions are expected to give a major boost to this clean fuel in the energy mix of Chandigarh.
PNGRB till date has authorized 300 Geographical Areas across the country, covering 98 per cent of the population and 88 per cent of the area for development of CGD Network. Upto 2032 PNGRB has set the target to provide 12.5 Crore domestic PNG connections, establish 17,751 CNG stations and lay 5,42,224 inch-km pipeline.
As of November 30, 2023, 1.2 crore domestic PNG connections and 6,159 CNG Stations have been established across the country. (ANI)