Indraprastha Gas Ltd, the nation's largest CNG retailer, will invest about Rs 80 billion in the next five years to expand the city gas network of CNG stations and pipelines, taking environment-friendly fuel to household kitchens and factories, the company's CEO Sanjay Kumar said on 20 May.
Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL) currently has major operations in the national capital and its adjoining cities. It is looking to expand in a big way in the districts of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana, for which it has won a city gas license in recent bidding rounds.
"We have a capex spending plan of Rs 60 billion in the seven new geographical areas (GAs) in the next five years," he told reporters. IGL now has license to retail CNG to automobiles and Piped Natural Gas (PNG) to households in 11 GAs in four states.
"The seven new GAs contribute 7 per cent of sales currently and we see this rising to 40 per cent in next 5 years," said Pawan Kumar, Director (Commercial), IGL.
The city gas expansion is part of the government's push to raise the share of natural gas in its primary energy basket to 15 per cent by 2030, from the current 6.7 per cent. City gas projects are aimed at replacing polluting liquid fuels with environment-friendly gas to help meet India's carbon emission goals.
