India Boosts Piped Gas Allocation to Spur Adoption

The Indian government has announced an additional allocation of 200 SCM of Administered Price Mechanism (APM) natural gas to eligible city-gas distributors (CGDs) for every new domestic piped natural gas (PNG) connection they sign up, starting September 1.

This move aims to help CGDs offset their costs associated with sourcing liquefied natural gas (LNG), which has seen elevated prices due to tensions in West Asia. The government hopes this will accelerate the adoption of PNG connections, making clean and affordable cooking gas available to more households.

The incentivizing mechanism will be implemented over two tranches spanning six months, resulting in cost savings that are expected to shorten the payback period for capital expenditure on D-PNG connections from around 10 years to approximately 3 years.