According to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MOP&NG), the country is expected to see a massive investment of USD66 billion in gas infrastructure. The development comes in light of government’s push for greater use of cleaner fuel in order to reduce carbon emissions. Further, the government is taking steps to increase the share of natural gas in the total energy basket, from 6.3 per cent at present to 15 per cent by 2030. The development is expected to increase the gas consumption by multiple times, from current 160-170 million standard cubic meters per day.
The estimated investment in developing gas infrastructure entails laying of 14,700 km new gas pipelines to the existing network of 16,800 km to form a national gas grid, expansion of city gas distribution networks, and increasing liquefied natural gas (LNG) import capacity.
With a view to ensure the development of a gas-based economy in an integrated manner, the government has also planned to meet its renewable energy target of 450 GW by 2030. LNG import terminals and capacity additions are also planned on both east and west coast. Furthermore, the government is promoting the use of LNG as fuel for long-haul trucks and buses. To this end, foundation stone for the first 50 LNG fueling stations across the golden quadrilateral and major National Highways has been recently laid. Overall, the government aims to set up 1,000 LNG stations within a period of three years, which is expected to add about 20-25 mmscmd of new gas demand by 2035.
The National Biofuel Policy targets the blending 20 per cent ethanol in petrol and 5 per cent of bio-diesel by 2030. There is also an increased emphasis to adopt hydrogen fuel mix. In November 2020, a hydrogen enriched-compressed natural gas (HCNG) plant and dispensing station and the first set of buses with HCNG were introduced in Delhi