Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) has brought out amendments in its three regulations namely Natural Gas Pipeline Tariff, Authorisation and Capacity Regulations.
Key points
- These amendments will act as stepping stone for implementation of Unified Tariff regulations which will be effective from 1st April 2023.
- The objective of these changes is to provide access of natural gas in the far-flung areas at the competitive and affordable rates to achieve the long-cherished objective of one nation one grid and one tariff.
- To simplify the implementation of unified tariff, entity level Integrated natural gas pipeline tariff has been introduced in the said regulations which will act as a building block for unified tariff at national level.
- Further to protect the overall interest of consumers in different regions number of unified tariff zones have been increased from two to three.
Natural gas is an odorless, gaseous mixture of hydrocarbons—predominantly made up of methane (CH4).
Natural Gas and India
The Government has set a target to raise the share of natural gas in energy mix to 15% in 2030 from about 6.3% now. To achieve the target, various initiatives have been taken which inter alia include the following:-
- i). Expansion of National Gas Grid to about 33,500 Km from current 21,715 Km.
- ii). Expansion of City Gas Distribution (CGD) network
- iii). Setting up of Liquefied Natural Gas Terminals.
- iv). Allocation of domestic gas to Compressed Natural Gas (Transport) / Piped Natural Gas (Domestic) in no cut category.
- v). Allowing marketing and pricing freedom to gas produced from high pressure/high temperature areas, deep water & ultra-deep water and from coal seams.
- vi). Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) initiatives to promote Bio-CNG.
About Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB)
- The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) was constituted under The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board Act, 2006 on 31st March, 2006.
- The Act provide for the establishment of Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board to protect the interests of consumers and entities engaged in specified activities relating to petroleum, petroleum products and natural gas and to promote competitive markets and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
- The board has also been mandated to regulate the refining, processing, storage, transportation, distribution, marketing and sale of petroleum, petroleum products and natural gas excluding production of crude oil and natural gas so as and to ensure uninterrupted and adequate supply of petroleum, petroleum products and natural gas in all parts of the country.
