While Piped Natural Gas (PNG) connections are steadily rising across the country, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) usage shows no signs of slowing down, despite explicit government directives urging citizens to adopt cleaner alternatives. Since the launch of the national PNG drive, approximately 6.5 lakh new piped connections were installed by the end of March. However, actual supply demand trailed expectations by 18 per cent, strongly indicating that many households are signing up for the service without actually making the switch. Over the last decade, LPG consumers have nearly doubled to a staggering 33.5 crore, whilst PNG users account for a modest 1.64 crore.
Determined to accelerate this transition, the government is introducing far stricter regulations leading into June. These new measures will directly impact millions of cylinder-reliant households and test whether the state's aggressive push towards PNG can truly succeed.
With respect to the new regime, those people who are currently using the PNG line will be compelled to discontinue their LPG connections. It has been noted that OMCs have already started to find out those residences that are currently making use of both LPG and PNG connections, as this measure will help to prevent the hoarding, abuse, and black market sale of cylinders by such individuals. The possession of LPG and PNG connections by the same household is considered to be an illegal activity according to the new regulations regarding LPG connections.
Recognising that consumers must formally terminate their LPG service within 30 days of a PNG installation, the government has built in a safety net. This provision allows users to seamlessly reactivate their old LPG connections in the future should they relocate to an area that lacks piped gas infrastructure.
Enforcement has already tightened, with households identified as having functional PNG pipelines now blocked from booking or refilling domestic cylinders. This has been made possible because City Gas Distribution (CGD) companies and OMCs have fully integrated their digital databases to cross-reference customer records. At the same time, PNGRB has directed CGDs to hasten the development of domestic PNG infrastructure by extending the deadline of National PNG Drive 2.0 till June 30 in order to simplify, ensure safety, and facilitate this process for the people of India.
In addition to that, the government is imposing stringent measures to address shortage issues and reduce the wastage of cooking fuel. In particular, the duration of compulsory interval for refilling an LPG cylinder was raised from 21 days to 25 days in cities and up to 45 days for rural areas despite the growing number of constraints. However, the quota of 12 subsidised cylinders per year stays untouched; however, all other cylinders will have to be purchased at full price. Moreover, those who would like to use LPG in the traditional way will have to pay increased fees for installing an LPG connection.
Also read: India’s LPG use drops 16% in April amid West Asia conflict
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