(PTI)
Oil and gas regulator PNGRB has hired global consultancy ICF to carry out an assessment of India’s natural gas demand and the infrastructure needed to unleash the country’s massive pent-up requirement, its Chairman Dinesh K Sarraf said.
Natural gas — which has far lower emissions compared to alternate liquid fuels such as petrol and diesel used in automobiles and naphtha and coal burned in factories — makes up for just 6.2 per cent of all forms of energy consumed in the country. This compares to a global average of 24 per cent. One reason for the low use of the environment-friendly fuel is inadequate domestic gas production and the lack of infrastructure, particularly pipelines to carry the fuel to end users.
“We have engaged ICF to do a comprehensive assessment of demand and infrastructure needed,” Sarraf said, adding the report is expected by mid-2020. India is targeting 15 per cent share of natural gas in the energy basket by 2030. It consumed 166 million standard cubic metres per day of gas during the 2018-19 fiscal year, mostly in western and northern India as east and south were barely connected with the pipeline grid. The consumption does not reflect demand as some demand centres do not have access to gas.
