India's Govt Unveils Incentive Scheme to Boost Piped Gas Connections

The Indian government has introduced an incentive scheme to accelerate the rollout of piped natural gas (PNG) connections to households across the country. The APM/NAPM Incentive Scheme for Promotion of Domestic PNG Connections aims to increase access to cleaner and more affordable cooking fuel by providing additional allocations of domestically produced, lower-priced APM gas to eligible city gas distribution companies.

Under this scheme, CGD companies will receive an extra 200 standard cubic metres (SCM) of APM gas for every incremental billed domestic PNG connection above a threshold set for each geographical area. This allocation is expected to reduce the overall gas procurement costs of these companies by allowing them to replace more expensive liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The additional savings are anticipated to significantly improve the economics of household PNG expansion, reducing the payback period for capital expenditure on domestic PNG connections from around 10 years to approximately three years.