PNG Drive 3.0 targets 50 million new connections and shifts the focus to gas network utilization

Piped natural gas (PNG) installed in the house | Photo credit: The Hindu

Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri along with the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) and city gas distributors launched the National PNG Drive 3.0 on Thursday, intensifying efforts to accelerate the switch to piped gas (PNG) for households.

The final phase, which will run until the end of FY27, targets 50 million new PNG domestic connections, converting 40 million existing connections to active consumers and introducing an additional 50 million PNG domestic registrations.

The initiative builds on the second phase, which ran from January 1 to June 30, 2026, and added approximately 13.4 million billed connections and generated more than 15.3 million PNG domestic registrations.

PNGRB data showed a sharp acceleration in adoption during the second phase. Average daily additions of domestic PNG connections increased by 43% to 6,690 from 4,702, while daily additions of billed consumers increased more than two and a half times to 7,392 from 2,781.

The third phase would focus on improving the use of the existing municipal gas infrastructure. The government also plans to accelerate the adoption of PNG in the newly annexed areas, especially in suburban and rural markets.

According to the PNGRB, about 6.9,000,000,000,000,000 inches including about 2.5,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 m of MDPE pipes have been laid across the country. This network has the potential to support approximately 1.3 million PNG home connections.

In a post on social media, Mr Puri said “this will strengthen India’s vision of increasing the share of natural gas in the primary energy mix from the current around 6% while providing a cleaner, reliable and affordable source of energy.”

Published – 01 Oct 2026 20:50 IST