Dharmendra Pradhan lays foundation stone for first 50 LNG fueling stations

Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas and Steel, Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday, laid the foundation stone for the first 50 LNG fuelling stations across the golden quadrilateral and major National Highways.

All LNG stations were connected through video conference during the event with the minister.

According to an official release, this is part of a slew of initiatives of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas in realising Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of transforming India into a Gas based economy.

These 50 LNG stations will be set up and commissioned in partnership by the country's Oil and Gas majors such as IOCL, BPCL, HPCL, GAIL, PLL, Gujarat Gas and their Joint Venture Compes and subsidiaries.

Out of these 50 LNG stations, IOCL will set up 20 LNG stations, while BPCL and HPCL will set up 11 each LNG station. Rest LNG fuel stations are being put up by Gujarat Gas and Joint Venture compes of GAIL and OMCs. These 50 LNG stations are being put up at the nation's Golden quadrilateral and major National highways where LNG is to be made available for heavy vehicles and buses.

Natural gas is already in consumption by vehicles as CNG, but when used as LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas), its benefits increase multifold.

Long-haul trucks and buses favour LNG because of its higher energy density than CNG and the ability to travel up to 600 Km to 800 Km in a single fill. LNG as a fuel is revolutionary for the transport segment and switching to LNG will not only reduce the cost of operations but also make a drastic reduction in carbon emission and enhance energy security because of substitution of crude oil with LNG.

It has been envisaged to the commission about 1000 LNG stations along all major highways and industrial centers in the coming three years with an investment potential of about 10,000 crores. It has also been envisaged to convert about 10 per cent of long-haul heavy-duty vehicles from alternated fuel to LNG.

( With inputs from ANI )