NEW DELHI, October 6 — The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas in coordination with the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) on Tuesday granted formal authorization for the expansion of the City Gas Distribution (CGD) network across 50 newly demarcated Geographical Areas (GAs) under the 13th CGD Bidding Round.
The latest allocation elevates the coverage of India's authorized CGD network to virtually 100 percent of the nation's geographic landmass, extending piped cooking gas access and clean automotive fueling to over 99 percent of the national population. The five-year infrastructure rollout envisions an estimated capital expenditure infusion of ₹45,000 crore from both public sector energy majors and private concessionaires, targeting the deployment of 12 million domestic Piped Natural Gas (PNG) connections and 3,500 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) dispensing stations.
The Petroleum Secretary emphasized that expanding last-mile gas pipeline logistics is critical to achieving India's strategic vision of raising the share of natural gas in the primary energy basket from the current 6.5 percent to 15 percent by 2030. Accelerating domestic gas adoption will displace high-emission fuels in industrial heating and vehicular transportation, mitigating urban particulate air pollution while compressing crude oil import expenditures.
Energy transition planning, statutory mandates of the PNGRB under the PNGRB Act of 2006, hydrocarbon pipeline networks (such as the Urja Ganga pipeline), and India's COP26 carbon mitigation pledges represent critical topics across UPSC Civil Services (GS-III: Infrastructure & Energy Security). Candidates should remember that natural gas emits approximately 50 percent less carbon dioxide per unit of energy compared to coal and 30 percent less than fuel oil, making it an indispensable transition fuel in India's decarbonization roadmap.