India to further boost CNG dispensing capacity in New Delhi, NCR

India’s central government continues to push for compressed natural gas (CNG) as an alternative transportation fuel, with the commissioning of 36 new stations in New Delhi and the rest of the National Capital Region (NCR) on April 7, with a total capacity of about 2.3 lakh kilogram (kg)/day. No less than India’s Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Petroleum & Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan dedicated these new CNG stations.

Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) installed 30 of these stations at the retail outlets of oil marketing companies (OMCs) lIndian Oil Corp. (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (HPCL). The rest were installed by Haryana City Gas in Gurgaon (3 stations), GAIL Gas in Sonepat (1 station) and Adani Gas (2 stations) in Faridabad and Khurja (Bulandshahar).

While 25 of these 36 CNG stations are located in the National Capital Territory (NCT) of New Delhi, 11 are located in Ghaziabad, Greater Noida, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Sonipat and Khurja.

At the inauguration of the CNG dispensing station at the IOC retail outlet located in Gole Market, New Delhi, Pradhan emphasised 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 soon to enable long distance travel on CNG vehicles.

The minister applauded the efforts of oil marketing companies and city gas distribution companies for rolling out the current initiative for city or local natural gas distribution network or CGD in Delhi and the NCR. He also said that these companies are “geared up for extending all possible cooperation for converting cars to CNG” in Delhi and NCR.

Out of the 1,026 CNG stations currently operating in India, about 34% are located in Delhi and in the adjoining NCR. All four CGD companies operating in Delhi/NCR have plans to boost the existing CNG dispensing capacity to 88 lakh kg/day by installing an additional 104 CNG stations in Delhi/NCR. The current CNG consumption in Delhi/NCR is around 25 lakh kg/day.