Lok Sabha Question No. 4770 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-23
Subject: Supply of Gas for Motor Vehicles
Ministry: PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS
Asked by: N.K. Premachandran

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4770 TO BE ANSWERED ON 23.03.2020 Supply of Gas for Motor Vehicles

## 4770.   SHRI N.K. PREMACHANDRAN:

## पेट्रोलियम और प्राक ृ लिक गैस मंत्री

Will the Minister of PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government proposes to promote the supply of gas for motor vehicles and if so, the action taken thereon; (b)  whether  the  Government  proposes  to  start  more  gas  pumps  in  all  States  and  if  so,  the details thereof; (c) whether the Government proposes to convert petrol and diesel motor vehicles into gas and if so, the initiatives taken thereon; (d) whether the Government proposes to start private gas station and if so, the details thereof; (e) whether the Government proposes to supply gas at subsidized rate for the use of motor vehicles and if so, the details thereof; and (f) whether the Government proposes to use the entire gas produced as by-product during the extraction  of  crude  oil  and  if  so,  the  details  of  action  taken  thereon  and  the  initiatives  for increasing the production of fuels including the gas?

## ANSWER पेट्रोलियम और प्राक ृ लिक गैस मंत्री ( श्री धमेन्द्र प्रधान(

## MINISTER OF PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS (SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)

(a)  to  (e)  Petroleum  &  Natural  Gas  Regulatory  Board  (PNGRB)  is  the  authority  to  grant authorization to the entities for the development of City Gas Distribution (CGD) network in Geographical Areas (GAs) as per PNGRB Act, 2006.  Providing Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)  Stations and Piped Natural Gas  (PNG)  connection  to household is part of development of CGD network and the same is carried out by the entities viz. Public  Sector Undertaking (PSU)/ subsidiary of PSU/ Joint Venture (JV) of PSUs/ Private Company/JV of PSU and Private Company etc. authorized by PNGRB based on techno-commercial viability of  area.  So  far  PNGRB  has  authorized  230  GAs  for  development  of  CGD  network  across country up to 10th CGD Bidding Round covering more than 400 districts in the country in 27

States/UTs  which  covers  around  71%  of  India's  population  and  53  %  of  area.  At  present, there are about 2004 CNG stations in the country. Further, as per minimum work programme, the  authorized  CGD  entities  have  committed  to  set  up  CNG  Stations  across  the  country. Motor vehicles operate on various fuels including Petrol, Diesel and CNG based on market mechanism and choice. Natural gas being an alternate environment friendly fuel, government has issued policy guidelines to supply domestic gas, which is cheaper than imported gas for meeting the entire requirement of CNG (Transport) and PNG (Domestic) segments of CGD sector.

(f) The  various  policy initiatives  taken  by  the  Government  to  increase  domestic production of oil and gas include:

- i. Policy  for  Relaxations,  Extensions  and  Clarifications  under  Production  Sharing Contract (PSC) regime for early monetization of hydrocarbon discoveries,
- ii. Discovered Small Field Policy
- iii. Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy
- iv. Policy for Extension of Production Sharing Contracts
- v. Policy for early monetization of Coal Bed Methane
- vi. Setting up of National Data Repository
- vii. Appraisal of Unappraised areas in Sedimentary Basins
- viii. Re-assessment of Hydrocarbon Resources
- ix. Policy framework to streamline the working of Production Sharing Contracts in PreNELP and NELP Blocks
- x. Policy to Promote and Incentivize Enhanced Recovery Methods for Oil and Gas
- xi. Policy framework for exploration and exploitation of Unconventional Hydrocarbons under  existing  Production  Sharing  Contracts,  Coal  Bed  Methane  contracts  and Nomination fields.

The  Government  in  February,  2019  approved  major  reforms  in  exploration  and  licensing policy to enhance exploration activities, attract domestic and foreign investment in unexplored/unallocated areas of sedimentary basins and accelerate domestic production of oil and  gas  from  existing  fields.  The  policy  reforms inter  alia aims  to    boost  exploration activities with greater weightage to work programme, simplified fiscal and contractual terms, bidding  of  exploration  blocks  under  Category  II  and  III  sedimentary  basins  without  any production or revenue sharing to Government, early monetization of discoveries by extending fiscal  incentives,  incentivizing   gas  production  including  marketing  and  pricing  freedom, induction  of latest technology  and  capital, more  functional  freedom  to  National  Oil Companies  for  collaboration  and  private  sector  participation  for  production  enhancement methods in nomination fields, streamlining approval processes and promoting ease of doing business including electronic single window mechanism.

*****