Welcoming the decision taken by the Petroleum Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB)’s on establishing LNG dispensing station in the country, Petronet LNG Ltd (PLL) on Thursday said it is looking for partners for development of LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) dispensing stations.

Petroleum Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) in a public notice on 2nd June 2020 announced that any entity can set up an LNG station in any Geographical Area (GA) or anywhere else, even if it is not the authorised entity for that GA.

In a statement, PLL said that it would like to “facilitate LNG dispensing infrastructure across the country on major national highways and invites OMCs, CGD entities or any interested parties to partner up for this project.”

Petronet’s MD&CEO Shri. Prabhat Singh said, “PLL in its endeavour to contribute towards vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and relentless efforts of Cabinet Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Minister of Steel Dharmendra Pradhan ji of making India a gas based economy is putting in all efforts to promote LNG as a cleaner, greener and economic automotive fuel for Medium and Heavy Commercial Vehicles(M&HCVs) in India.”

In these efforts, PLL has already launched its first commercially registered LNG buses and LNG dispensing stations at its Dahej and Kochi Terminals. These buses are deployed for commuting PLL employees between their residence and work location which demonstrates the safety of LNG as an automotive fuel and provides travel range of 900 km in a single filling.

PLL is already developing LNG dispensing infrastructure along Delhi-Mumbai highway and has already floated a tender. With this clarification of the PNGRB, PLL is encouraged to develop LNG dispensing infrastructure across the country.

Apart from being environmentally superior fuel, LNG also reduces fuel bill of the fleet operators about 25% and import bill of the country by 30 per cent-40 per cent as compared to crude oil based fuel.

PLL envisions that the LNG infrastructure will further strengthen GoI’s commitments toward COP 21 for reduction of emission intensity by 33 per cent-35 per cent from 2005 level and increasing gas share in India’s energy mix from 6 per cent to 15 per cent. PLL will soon be coming out with the finer details of the partnerships in coming weeks.