Question : PNG Network

(a) the percentage of families having Piped Natural Gas (PNG) facility as compared to Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) consumers in Bihar and Jharkhand and the details of existing network of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)/PNG across the country including the number of households/industrial units covered under these networks along with funds sanctioned, allocated and utilised for the purpose, State/UT-wise;
(b) whether the Government proposes to consider any new policy/proposal for the expansion of CNG/PNG coverage in the country including demand of PNG connections received from southern States, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh;
(c) if so, the details thereof along with action taken/cities identified by the Government including target fixed to provide PNG facility in every rural/urban household along with achievement made in this regard, State/UT-wise;
(d) whether the Government proposes to discontinue the supply of LPG cylinders in selected cities under smart city project and provide PNG facility there and if so, the details thereof along with plan prepared by the States in this regard; and
(e) whether incidents of leakage/fire in gas pipelines have been reported/come to the notice of the Government across the country and if so, the details thereof along with the preventive steps taken by the Government in this regard?

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) IN THE MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS (SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)
(a) to (e): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT REFERRED IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) to (e) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION No. 217 ASKED BY SHRI GEORGE BAKER AND SHRI K.N. RAMACHANDRAN, MPs TO BE ANSWERED ON JULY 31, 2017
(a) to (c): Government has established Petroleum & Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) under the PNGRB Act, 2006, in the year 2007. PNGRB is the statutory authority to grant authorization for the development of City Gas Distribution (CGD) network. PNGRB identifies the GA for the development of CGD network depending on the natural gas pipeline connectivity/natural gas availability and feasibility for grant of authorization to develop CGD network in the country. In order to supply clean fuel and availability of natural gas to the eastern part of the country, the Government has provided a capital grant of Rs.5176 crore (i.e. 40% of the estimated capital cost of Rs.12,940 Crore) to GAIL for development of a 2655 Km long Jagdishpur-Haldia/Bokaro-Dhamra Gas Pipeline (JHBDPL) project, popularly known as the “Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga” of Eastern India. This pipeline will transport Natural Gas to the industrial, commercial, domestic and transport sectors in the five States including Bihar & Jharkhand and to the CGD projects in the cities of Varanasi, Patna, Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata and Cuttack. At present, there are no Piped Natural Gas (PNG) consumers in Bihar and Jharkhand.
The details of existing network of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)/PNG across the country including the number of households/industrial units covered under those network State/UT-wise as available on PPAC’s website as on 01.6.2017 are at Annexure-I.
In order to enhance PNG/CNG consumption in the country, PNGRB has already authorized 81 GAs across the country for the development of CGD network and identified 228 GAs to be included in future bidding rounds subject to availability of natural gas and techno-commercial viability of the area. The Government has also taken following steps to boost the CNG consumption:
(i) MoP&NG has framed policy guidelines to supply domestic gas to the CGD entities. The domestic gas is being supplied to meet entire requirement of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) (Transport) and domestic PNG segments based on last six monthly consumption data by the respective CGD networks.
(ii) Ministry has set a target in GAIL’s MoU for 2017-18 and urged other Oil Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) to fix a target for setting up CNG stations through their Joint Ventures Companies/Subsidiaries.
(iii) Government has set a target to Oil and Gas Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) to achieve one crore PNG connections by 2019.
(iv) The Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) has issued advisory to the State Governments to speed up of CNG/PNG infrastructure.
(v) The Ministry of Labour & Employment (MoLE) has declared CGD network as a “Public Utility” under the Industrial Dispute Act, 1947.
(vi) The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has issued guidelines to allow the development of PNG network into its establishments across the country.
(d): Government has allowed PNG connection holders to keep one non-subsidized LPG connection in their household.
(e): GAIL has informed that a fire & burst in GAIL’s 18”x 205 Km Tatipaka – Kondapalli Gas Pipeline at Nagaram Village nearby Tatipaka Terminal in East Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh has been reported on 27-06-2014. Subsequent to the incident of GAIL’s Pipeline, amongst the existing mechanism to prevent such incidents, the following steps have been initiated by GAIL:
i. Safety Audits are carried out by independent external agencies and internal multidisciplinary teams to find out gaps if any and the recommendations are complied with time bound manner.
ii. Well-equipped Fire protection and Safety measures have been set up across all GAIL Sites.
iii. Daily foot patrolling in populated/ urban centers and monthly foot patrolling of Lines at other locations to identify encroachments / suspicious activities, if any. Also, GPS based online tracking system for foot patrolling implemented.
iv. Security clearances have been obtained for patrolling/monitoring of RoU/RoW for operation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) for surveillance of Pipeline.
v. A Disaster Management Sub Group has been formed at Corporate Office, GAIL primarily to come together for mitigating the Crisis without any delay and taking all actions which are necessary arising out of the Crisis.
vi. A Centralized Integrity Management Group (CIMG) has been established to closely monitor & maintain comprehensive pipeline database and coordinate the integrity management of pipelines across the Country.
vii. Group SMS and voice telephony system have been implemented at all GAIL sites for faster communication during emergency.
The entities also have to adhere to statutory requirements regarding safety.
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