Inside Ultra Gas & Energy's Plans To Scale LNG Refuelling network

India's push to reduce its dependence on diesel in the trucking sector faces a familiar problem. Transporters are reluctant to switch to LNG-powered trucks due to a lack of confidence in finding fuel along major routes. Fuel retailers, meanwhile, are hesitant to invest in expensive infrastructure until many vehicles hit the road.

Somewhere between those two challenges sits Ultra Gas & Energy Ltd. Part of Essar's green mobility ecosystem, the company is working to establish a nationwide LNG refuelling network to support long-haul freight movement.

This comes at a time when policymakers, fleet operators and energy companies are increasingly looking for alternatives to diesel, driven by concerns over emissions, energy security and rising fuel costs.

"We are at kindergarten stage today," said Maqsood Shaikh, MD and CEO of Ultra Gas & Energy, describing the current state of LNG truck adoption in India.

India has roughly 40 lakh heavy commercial vehicles on the road, but only about 1,350 LNG-powered trucks have been registered so far. LNG remains a niche fuel.

Unlike electric trucks, which continue to face limitations in long-distance freight operations because of battery weight and charging requirements, LNG offers a driving range and payload capability close to diesel. 

This, the company believes, makes it attractive for applications such as cement, steel, mining and industrial cargo movement, where trucks routinely cover hundreds of kilometres every day.

"LNG is a high-density fuel as good as diesel in terms of carrying capacity versus kilometre range," Shaikh said.

Ultra Gas forms one part of a broader ecosystem that also includes GreenLine Mobility Solutions, which operates LNG-powered trucking fleets, and Blue Energy Motors, the commercial vehicle manufacturer producing LNG trucks.

Together, the three businesses address what the industry often describe as the chicken-and-egg problem facing alternative fuels.

Blue Energy builds the trucks. GreenLine puts them on the road. Ultra Gas supplies the fuel. The strategy allows the group to create demand and infrastructure simultaneously instead of waiting for one to drive the other.

Ultra Gas & Energy’s focus for now is not on building hundreds of stations overnight. It is about creating operational freight corridors.

The company now operates seven LNG refuelling stations and is expanding across some of India's busiest freight routes, including the Delhi-Mumbai and Mumbai-Chennai corridors. The network is gradually extending eastward towards Kolkata and eventually the Northeast.

According to Shaikh, average utilisation across the existing network is around 75%, while several stations are operating at full capacity. "If you talk about the Delhi-Mumbai and Mumbai-Chennai corridor, it is doing fantastically," he said.

Ultra Gas & Energy plans to expand its LNG refuelling network to around 15 by this August and 20 by March 2027. The company says this network would be enough to cover nearly 98% of India's major freight movement corridors.

Beyond the initial corridor build-out, Ultra Gas is targeting a network of 100 LNG stations by March 2029. The expansion will include eastern freight routes and the Northeast, supported by a combination of new investments and partnerships with fuel retailers.

Rather than relying solely on greenfield investments, Ultra Gas is also pursuing a less visible expansion strategy. The company works with GAIL, Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Shell to secure fuel supply and gain access to existing infrastructure. 

In some cases, it uses idle LNG facilities owned by other operators through tolling arrangements, allowing it to expand network coverage without waiting for entirely new stations to be built.

At present, LNG trucks cost substantially more than diesel-powered vehicles, making them more accessible to large fleet operators than to small transporters.

Many of the trucks currently operating on LNG belong to organised fleet operators that have the scale to evaluate fuel savings and manage infrastructure requirements. Smaller truck owners remain cautious.

While EVs have benefited from government support in various forms, LNG has largely developed without similar assistance. Shaikh believes targeted measures could accelerate the transition.

Among the ideas being pushed by the industry are toll concessions for LNG trucks, incentives linked to vehicle purchases and faster approvals for LNG infrastructure projects. 

He also argues that green logistics targets for large corporations could create additional demand for lower-emission freight solutions.

Meanwhile, the broader question is where LNG fits in a future that increasingly includes electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles.

Battery-electric trucks are likely to gain ground in urban and short-haul operations, where charging can be planned and vehicles return to base regularly. Hydrogen may eventually emerge as a long-distance solution if costs fall sharply.

But both technologies face hurdles today. Hydrogen, in particular, remains expensive compared with LNG as of now.

As a result, Shaikh sees LNG acting as a transition fuel over the next decade, particularly in long-haul freight applications where diesel remains dominant. He said the industry’s challenge is less about proving the technology and more about building confidence.

Shaikh said the Ultra Gas is focusing as much on corridors and utilisation as on headline station numbers.

For now, India's LNG trucking story remains a small one. But if the country's freight sector is to reduce its dependence on diesel, the network being built today may prove just as important as the vehicles that eventually use it.