National PNG Drive 3.0: Expanding India’s Piped Gas Ecosystem

National PNG Drive 3.0

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) launched National PNG Drive 3.0 on October 1, 2026, for six months up to March 31, 2027.
It aims to expand Domestic Piped Natural Gas (D-PNG) adoption and improve utilisation of existing City Gas Distribution (CGD) infrastructure.
Key targets include:

As of June 30, 2026, India had around 1.74 crore PNG consumers, but only about 1.15 crore were billed, highlighting the gap between infrastructure access and actual utilisation.

Natural gas currently contributes around 6% of India’s primary energy mix, while the government has set a long-term objective of increasing its share to 15% by 2030.
PNG can provide households with a continuous supply of cooking fuel and reduce dependence on conventional LPG and more carbon-intensive fuels.
Greater use of gas can also improve utilisation of already-developed CGD infrastructure.
The push assumes greater importance during geopolitical disruptions because diversification of energy sources and supply routes strengthens energy security.
However, natural gas is still a fossil fuel; its role should therefore be viewed as a transition fuel rather than a zero-carbon energy source.

India has developed around 6.88 lakh inch-km of CGD pipelines, creating potential for approximately 1.3 crore additional connections.
The central challenge is increasingly shifting from laying pipelines to ensuring that households actually use them.
Dormant connections represent underutilised infrastructure and reduce the commercial viability of CGD networks.
The programme therefore focuses on semi-urban and rural areas where network expansion has not always translated into sufficient consumer adoption.

High initial connection costs, limited consumer awareness and concerns regarding affordability can discourage households from shifting to PNG.
Last-mile pipeline expansion is particularly expensive in low-density rural and semi-urban areas where consumer demand may be uncertain.
CGD companies require sufficient consumer density and sustained gas demand to recover infrastructure investments.
Reliable supply and availability of meters, valves, GI pipes and MDPE pipes are essential for timely activation of connections.
The expansion of natural gas also requires attention to methane leakage, since methane is a potent greenhouse gas.

From September 1, 2026, eligible CGD entities can receive an additional allocation of 200 Standard Cubic Metres (SCM) of lower-priced APM gas for each incremental billed domestic-PNG connection beyond the prescribed threshold.
This seeks to improve the commercial viability of expanding household PNG connections.
The MyPNG Portal can support more consumer-centric delivery through a unified digital interface for PNG-related services.
The broader policy lesson is that energy access should be measured not merely by infrastructure created but by actual and affordable utilisation.
PNG can serve as a transitional component of India’s energy transition, but long-term decarbonisation will require greater deployment of renewables, electrification and improved energy efficiency alongside responsible management of natural-gas infrastructure.