Expedite PNG clearances: Govt to municipal bodies, other agencies

NEW DELHI: Amid a shortage of cooking gas cylinders, urban development minister Manohar Lal on Saturday nudged municipal bodies and other agencies to expedite clearances for piped natural gas (PNG), as state and local body approvals often delay clearances for expansion.Setting a target to add 50 lakh new piped gas connections to the existing base of 1.6 crore, at a round table here, the minister called for accelerating expansion on a mission mode, and underlined the need for single-window approvals, integration with urban planning, last-mile connectivity and convergence with ongoing urban initiatives.Gas supply to households and improving flow to businesses is a priority for govt, with an informal group of ministers (IGoM) on the West Asia crisis also taking stock of risks to energy supplies, robustness of India’s supply chains, while reviewing domestic availability of essential commodities and critical infrastructure resilience.

Chairing the IGoM’s meeting — where the empowered group of secretaries outlined the sectoral issues and the policy measures — defence minister Rajnath Singh emphasised the “need for a proactive, coordinated and forward-looking approach, and underscored the importance of remaining vigilant in view of the evolving scenario”.“The need for assessing the impact of the situation across various industries was also discussed,” an official statement said.

There is a major push for households to shift to piped gas as cooking gas cylinder supply has been severely affected due to disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.In a statement, the petroleum ministry also said the defence ministry has made a short-term policy tweak to fast-track PNG infrastructure in its residential areas and unit lines. It will grant approvals within 24 hours and waive road restoration charges for city gas distribution companies, which will restore public assets at their own cost.

It will also allow use of defence land for laying underground pipelines and valve chambers at a reduced annual licence fee.The petroleum ministry has called for right-of-way approvals and high restoration charges to be addressed. To push domestic, commercial and industrial LPG consumers to switch to PNG, the Centre had notified an order, putting in place a time-bound and standardised framework to accelerate the laying and expansion of gas pipelines across the country. The order sought to address long-standing delays in approvals, land access and regulatory processes that have slowed the development of natural gas infrastructure.