The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has introduced the “Incentive Scheme for Promotion of Domestic PNG Connections” to expand piped cooking gas across Indian households. Effective September 1, 2026, the six-month, two-tranche scheme aims to build on the country’s 1.74 crore active connections by incentivizing City Gas Distribution (CGD) entities to convert unbilled setups into active users and expand network coverage into new areas.
Under the framework, CGD companies that exceed baseline connection targets in their assigned Geographical Areas (GAs) will receive an additional allocation of 200 Standard Cubic Metres (SCM) of lower-priced Administered Price Mechanism (APM) gas per incremental connection. By substituting costlier imported Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) with domestic APM gas, CGD providers will significantly lower sourcing costs—drastically reducing the capital payback period per connection from ten years to approximately three years.
Complementing the scheme are administrative measures including the Accelerated Approval Framework under the 2026 Distribution Order for uniform Right-of-Way (RoW) charges, state-level VAT rationalization to 5%, and an upcoming unified single-window digital registration portal. Together, these steps aim to deliver safe, low-pressure, continuous, and cost-effective cooking fuel directly to homes while reducing reliance on traditional LPG cylinders.
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