Presently in India the share of natural gas in energy basket is 6.7%. The Government has set a target to raise the share of natural gas in energy mix to 15% in 2030.

Various steps have been taken by the Government in this direction. These, inter-alia, include expansion of National Gas Grid (24,623 kms operational and 10,860 km under construction), expansion of City Gas Distribution (CGD) network (300 Geographical Areas (GAs) with Minimum Work Plan of approx. 12.50 crore PNG connections, 17,751 CNG Stations and 5.42 lakh inch-km pipeline by 2023) and setting up of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Terminals (current 47.7 MMTPA capacity to 66.7 MMTPA),etc.. As regards increase in production of Natural Gas, there has been approx 20% increase in natural gas production from 28.7 billion cubic meters (BCM) in 2020-21 to 34.45 BCM in 2022-23. For increasing domestic gas production, Government has notified Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP) on 30th March 2016. Government further notified policy reforms on 28th February 2019 with concessional royalty/royalty holiday provisions, relaxed approvals, reduced revenue share from Category II & III type of basins for early monetization of fields along with Marketing and Pricing freedom for natural gas.

This information was given by the THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS SHRI RAMESWAR TELI, in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.

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RKJ/M

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