Mumbai: The government’s incentive scheme to expand domestic piped natural gas connections will begin on September 1, 2026. The plan aims to activate existing connections and take PNG services to more households.
India currently has around 1.74 crore domestic PNG connections, according to data.
How the scheme will work?
City gas distribution companies will receive incentives for converting unbilled PNG connections into active connections that generate bills. They will also be encouraged to extend pipeline networks into new areas.
Eligible companies will receive an extra allocation of 200 standard cubic metres of lower-priced, domestically produced APM gas for every additional billed domestic PNG connection above the threshold fixed for each area.
The six-month programme will be implemented in two tranches.
Lower costs for companies
The additional APM gas will replace part of the expensive liquefied natural gas purchased by CGD companies for their compressed natural gas transport business.
This could lower gas-sourcing costs and make investment in domestic PNG infrastructure more attractive.
The government expects these savings to reduce the payback period for spending on household PNG connections from nearly 10 years to about three years. This could encourage companies to add connections faster.
Benefits for households
PNG gives households a continuous, metered supply of cooking gas through pipelines. Users do not need to book, store or replace LPG cylinders and pay according to consumption.
The government said PNG offers convenience and safety benefits because gas is supplied through pipelines at low pressure and cylinders need not be stored inside homes.
Wider push for PNG
The scheme supports measures such as simpler infrastructure approvals, standardised Right-of-Way charges and efforts to persuade states to reduce value-added tax on natural gas to 5 percent.
Under National PNG Drive 2.0, authorities are conducting awareness campaigns, offering LPG cylinder surrender facilities and encouraging housing societies to shift to PNG.
A unified digital portal for applying for new PNG connections and tracking applications is also being developed.
