Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri yesterday dedicated to the nation 201 compressed natural gas (CNG) stations in 17 states and India's first mini-LNG unit at Vijaypur in Madhya Pradesh. These stations will promote the use of CNG in the transport sector and home cooking as a green alternative to conventional fuel and make it available in new areas. The dedication of the stations was done through video conferencing at a ceremony here, which was attended by senior officials of the ministry and top officials of public sector natural gas company GAIL.
201 CNG stations have been set up by 15 City Gas Distribution (CGD) units of GAIL, out of which 53 stations belong to GAIL Gas Limited, 50 to Indraprastha Gas Limited, 43 to GAIL and 20 to Mahanagar Gas Limited. Of the remaining, four belong to Avantika Gas Limited, two to Bengal Gas Company Limited, three to Central UP Gas Limited and one to Goa Natural Gas Private Limited. Ltd., three to Green Gas Ltd., one to Haridwar Natural Gas Ltd., two to Purva Bharti Gas Ltd., one to Rajasthan State Gas Pvt. Ltd. Ltd., one to Tripura Natural Gas Company Ltd. and one to Vadodara Gas Ltd.
After the completion of the ongoing CGD development in the GA awarded under the 12th CGD bidding round of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board, almost the entire population and geographical area of India will have access to natural gas. The total number of CNG stations across the country has crossed 6,200, while the number of domestic piped natural gas (PNG) connections stands at around 1.21 crore. The statement said that GAIL group companies have 40 percent CNG stations and 64 percent PNG connections in the country.