NEW DELHI: To expedite Piped Natural Gas (PNG) network expansion, top officials held deliberations with 190 district officials and more than 300 urban authorities on Thursday.
The meeting was focused on accelerating infrastructure in 110 identified focus Geographic Areas (GAs) and strengthening last-mile connectivity.
According to the officials, emphasis was laid on sensitising states, districts and ULBs regarding the ongoing current situation and how to explore the potential of PNG infrastructure.
“A detailed presentation was made on the current status of the City Gas Distribution (CGD) network, highlighting the significant infrastructure already laid across multiple geographical areas. The meeting underscored the need for a mission-mode approach, involving coordinated efforts across ministries, states, districts and ULBs,” said officials.
The secretary of ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA) Srinivas Katikithala along with his counterpart in ministry of petroleum and natural gas (MoPNG) Neeraj Mittal chaired a joint review meeting through video conferencing with urban development secretaries, civil supplies departments, DMs and municipal commissioners or EOs of ULBs, except poll bound states.
District magistrates (DMs) and collectors from over 150 districts and municipal commissioners or executive officers (EOs) from more than 260 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) joined the deliberations.
Katikithala directed the states and ULBs to facilitate the mapping of PNG pipeline networks, accelerate the expansion of household PNG connections and focus on tapping unmet demand in the identified GAs to ensure greater access to safe, convenient and affordable fuel.
“Key policy and regulatory measures undertaken by the Government were also discussed including the need for immediate prioritisation of providing household PNG connections in areas where pipeline infrastructure is already in place with a focus on unlocking the existing potential by targeting nearly 30 lakh connections in such areas,” said officials.
All districts and ULBs were also directed to prepare a time-bound three weeks action plan with ward-wise targets, identification of priority areas and clear timelines for approvals and execution.
ULBs should prioritise areas where pipeline infrastructure is already available, high-demand locations and group housing societies to achieve quick results. Fast-tracking permission in such areas was emphasised to demonstrate immediate progress, secretary MoHUA said.
The meeting was a follow-up of the roundtable review held on March 28 chaired together by union ministers holding the MoHUA, MoPNG and Consumer Affairs and Food and Public Distribution (MoCAFPD).
Secretary of MoHUA also stressed upon scaling up the broader unmet potential of nearly 60 lakh PNG connections through focused campaigns and streamlined processes. A saturation approach was proposed for major cities, including Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR, Lucknow, Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Surat and Varanasi to achieve near-universal PNG coverage by ensuring comprehensive network expansion and maximising household connections.
ULBs will ensure daily reporting on the portal to ensure transparency and accountability. Meanwhile, the CGD entities were directed to map their PNG pipeline networks on the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan portal for coordinated planning, population projects and integration of underground utility networks.
Further, all States/UTs and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) were directed to facilitate the establishment of a single-window, time-bound approval mechanism for PNG-related works.
States and union territories (UTs) and ULBs have also been directed to prepare city-level and municipal-level action plans for systematic identification of potential areas for new PNG connections and to undertake targeted outreach activities.
“All states and UTs were directed to mandatorily constitute dedicated Quick Response Teams (QRTs)/Task Forces at the district and city level…These teams shall ensure daily monitoring, close coordination among all stakeholders and time-bound resolution of operational issues, so as to avoid any delays in the implementation of PNG infrastructure,” said officials.