Question : PNG Network

(a) the details of the existing City Gas Distribution (CGD) including Piped Natural Gas (PNG) network in the country along with the number of households/industrial units covered and new consumers added during the last year and the current year in various cities through these networks, State/UT-wise;
(b) whether the Government has set up committees to address the issues raised by CGD companies regarding making bidding process more effective and to remove major obstacles faced by them and if so, the details thereof and the time by which the said panel is likely to submit its report;
(c) whether the Government has fixed any target for providing PNG to every household by 2019 and if so, the details thereof along with number of cities identified for the purpose, State/UT-wise including Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka;
(d) whether the Ministry of Urban Development has requested the States/urban local bodies to provide PNG supply in all cities including smart cities; and
(e) if so, the details thereof along with detailed plan chalked out by the Government and achievement made/steps taken by the Government in this regard, State/UT-wise?

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) IN THE MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS (SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)
(a): The details of the existing City Gas Distribution (CGD) including Piped Natural Gas (PNG) network in the country along with the number of households/industrial units State/UT-wise details are at Annexure-I. In the Financial Year 2015-16, 2.98 lakh new households have been connected with PNG supplies. Further, in the current year till September, 2016 about 1.65 lakh additional households have also been covered with PNG supplies. Thus, total 33.27 lakh households are availing the benefits of PNG supplies in the country.
(b): The Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoP&NG) has constituted in August, 2016 two Committees having Members from CGD industry for suggesting alternate biding criteria for award of CGD networks as well as for suggesting a way forward to address other issues (operational and regulatory) for expediting development of CGD networks within three months of their constitution.
(c): Government of India has envisaged to expand the coverage of urban pipeline networks by providing PNG supply to 1 crore household by 2019. Petroleum & Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB), established under the PNGRB Act, 2006, has identified a number of cities across the country for rolling out the development of CNG network in the phased manner in synchronization with the development of natural gas pipeline connectivity/natural gas availability and feasibility for grant of authorization to develop CGD networks. State-UT-wise details of GAs identified for development of CGD network is at Annexure-II and Annexure-III. The list of smart cities to be taken up for CGD authorization - round one and round two are at Annexure-IV and Annexure-V.
In the State of Uttar Pradesh, the cities, viz., Gautam Bhudh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Firozabad, Mathura, Meerut, Dibyapur, Khurja, Lucknow, Agra, Kanpur, Bareilly, Jhansi, Morabadad, Allahabad and Saharanpur and in the State of Karnataka, the cities, viz., Bengaluru, Dharwad, Tumkur and Belgaum have been covered for the development and expansion of PNG network.
(d) & (e): To ensure smooth coverage of City Gas Distribution (CGD) Network in the smart cities, the Ministry of Urban Development has advised the Urban Development Departments of all the State Governments to extend all possible support to the CGD companies to issue appropriate directions for rationalizing the charges and time limits for granting permissions by respective authorities for laying gas pipeline networks across the country.
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