Dr. Anil Kumar Jain, Chairperson, Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) met Shri BanwarilalPurohit,  Administrator of UT of Chandigarh and Governor of Punjab on 19^th January 24 at Chandigarh.

Chairperson briefed the Governor about the progress of Oil & Gas Infrastructure mainly in 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% in India’s energy basket. He also briefed the Governor on the progress in promotion of natural gas in Punjab. The inherent environmental benefits and convenience in use of piped natural gas in cooking and CNG in transport were emphasised.

Important issues like substitution of polluting solid and liquid fuels by Natural Gas in Industrial & Commercial units, rationalisation in land Restoration charges, VAT on CNG etc were discussed during the meeting. 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 fitness of the city’s status of a clean and green city.

The Governor appreciated the same and assured all possible assistance for development of natural gas infrastructure in the UT of Chandigarh.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Chairperson, PNGRB also met Shri Nitin Kumar Yadav, IAS, Home Secretary, and Adviser to Administrator, and Commissioner, MC, Chandigarh. During the meeting, issues for promotion of Natural Gas and its increased usage in Domestic, Transport, Industrial and commercial units were discussed. The Home Secretary also assured full support of 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% of the population and 88% 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 on 30^th November, 2023,  1.2 crore domestic PNG connections and  6,159 CNG Stations has been established across the country.

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RKJ/M