The Air Quality Management Board (AQM) in the NCR and its adjacent areas assessed the readiness of industrial areas in the National Capital Region (NCR) and verified how many have completed their transition to piped natural gas (PNG) and other fuels approved at a meeting on Friday.
At the meeting, which was attended by 11 Town Gas Distributors (CGDs) from the NCR and officials from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG), the distributors informed the committee that out of the 240 industrial estates in the region, 179 had thus far completed the switch to approved fuel.
CGDs present at the meeting said that by September 2023, all industrial areas will be connected by gas infrastructure.
Certainly, the remaining industrial zones will have to switch by December 31, 2022, failing which the officials concerned will be able to act against the offenders.
“A total of 179 of 240 (74.5%) industrial areas in the NCR now have gas connectivity,” the CAQM said in a statement on Friday. According to officials, NCR currently has 963 CNG stations; approximately 2.2 million national connections in PNG; 5,185 commercial PNG connections and 5,361 industrial connections.
The CGDs in the region are Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL), Adani Total Gas Limited, GAIL Gas Limited, Indian Oil Adani Gas Private Limited, HPCL, BPCL, Baghpat Green Energy Pvt Limited, Torrent Gas Pvt Ltd, Haryana City Gas (KCE) Pvt Ltd, Haryana City Gas Distribution Limited and Haryana City Gas Distribution (Bhiwadi) Limited. Of these, the IGL network covers the most authorized geographical areas (GAs) – seven – followed by Adani Total Gas Ltd – four.
“Given the dire need to address air pollution from industrial activities and vehicles, the CAQM has ordered the rapid commissioning of gas infrastructure across the NCR well ahead of the upcoming winter season,” the committee said on Friday.
The commission has already ordered state governments in the NCR to phase out coal from the region by January 1, 2023 (except at thermal power plants).
