The Ministry of Oil of India expects gas companies to invest INR 1,200bn (US$16.8bn) in the development of city gas networks in nearly 300 districts by 2030. Investment is expected to be boosted as the Oil regulator Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) is promoting the development city gas distribution networks across India to raise the share of gas in the energy mix to 15% by 2030.
The number of city gas distribution (CGD) networks has surged from 34 geographical areas (GAs) five years ago to 228 GAs covering 406 districts now. During 2018, the PNGRB awarded licenses to retail CNG and piped gas to households for 136 GAs, enabling to cover 70% of the country population. The 9th city gas bid round (in August 2018) awarded licenses for 86 GAs (174 districts), while gas distribution licenses for another 50 GAs (124 districts) were awarded in the 10th bid round (in March 2019) to companies such as Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Adani Gas and Bharat Gas.
Consequently, the number of households connected to cooking gas pipelines has doubled to nearly 5.2 m, and this number will rise to 50 m by 2030 thanks to the awarded licenses. Furthermore, the number of CNG retailing stations (for transport) has surged from 938 in 2014 to the current 1,769 and is expected to reach 10,000 by 2030.