36 new CNG stations to boost green mobility in Delhi-NCR

Ahead of the imminent ban on diesel and petrol-engined taxis in the Delhi-NCR region, and the looming deadline of May 1, 2016 for switching over to CNG, the Petroleum Ministry today inaugurated 36 new CNG stations in Delhi-NCR with a total capacity of about 2.3 lakh kg/day.

Of the new stations, 30 have been installed by Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL) at the retail outlets of oil marketing companies (OMCs) like Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum. Haryana City gas has installed three stations in Gurgaon, one station is put up by GAIL Gas in Sonepat and two by Adani Gas – one each in Faridabad and Khurja (Bulandshahar) – have been set up. While 25 out of these 36 CNG stations are located in NCT of Delhi, 11 are located in NCR – Ghaziabad, Greater Noida, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Sonipat and Khurja. 

Inaugurating the CNG dispensing facility at the Indian Oil retail outlet in Gole market, Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Petroleum & Natural Gas, underlined the commitment of the central government to make CNG available across the country. He said that CNG corridors across Delhi-Mathura-Agra-Lucknow-Bareilly, Delhi- Chandigarh, Delhi-Jaipur and Delhi-Haridwar would be operational shortly so that the vehicles can run long distances on CNG. He reiterated that the city gas distribution (CGD) industry has been accorded top priority in natural gas allocation.

The minister further lauded the efforts of OMCs and city gas distribution companies for rolling out the current initiative for CGD infrastructure in Delhi and NCR. He also said that these companies are geared up to extend assistance for converting cars to CNG in Delhi and NCR.

Delhi-NCR, which was the first city to adopt CNG, has about 34% of the total 1,026 CNG stations currently operating in the country. The region has 347 CNG stations of about 77 lakh kg per day CNG dispensing capacity. All four CGD companies operating in Delhi-NCR have planned to augment the existing CNG dispensing capacity to 88 lakh kg per day by developing additional 104 CNG stations. The actual CNG consumption in Delhi-NCR is around 25 lakh kg/day.