The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) marked its 20th anniversary with a focus on consumer empowerment, infrastructure expansion, digital transformation, safety assurance, and sustainable sectoral growth.
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) celebrated its 20th Foundation Day on October 1st, 2026, at the Dr. Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi. The event was graced by the Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, alongside Dr. Neeraj Mittal, Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, senior government officials, and key industry leaders.
In his address, the Union Minister emphasized India’s resilience in navigating global energy market volatility while advancing towards a gas-based economy. He highlighted strategic excise duty cuts on petrol and diesel that helped keep domestic fuel prices stable despite international price spikes of 70%–80%.
To further strengthen energy security, the Minister outlined major policy decisions, including allocations of ₹84,084 crore under the Samudra Manthan scheme and ₹23,731 crore for GOBARdhan. The opening of 1 million sq km of previously restricted sedimentary basins has helped in boosting domestic hydrocarbon exploration and gas availability.
The Minister also highlighted the rapid expansion of the gas distribution ecosystem. Nearly the entire country has now been authorized for City Gas Distribution (CGD), while approximately 35,000 km of natural gas pipelines have been authorized. The Unified Tariff framework has helped reduce regional disparities and improve access to gas in distant and underserved regions.
In terms of infrastructure expansion, the Minister noted that LPG connection coverage has expanded from 14.5 crore in 2014 to over 33 crore.
Key initiatives launched during the event include National PNG Drive 3.0, MyPNG Portal, and the PNGRB Excellence Awards 2026.
During the West Asia crisis, the Government ensured continuity of essential gas supplies, while the CGD sector continued to expand PNG adoption and strengthen coordination with States and other stakeholders.
Addressing the gathering, the Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, emphasized the evolving role of regulation in driving actual gas adoption across sectors, stressing that success must now be measured not merely by pipeline length laid, but by actual gas consumption, molecule utilization, and the speed at which household PNG connections multiply. He encouraged CGD entities to leverage special schemes to reduce cost recovery timelines from 10–15 years to 2–3 years, thereby addressing major financial roadblocks to network expansion.
The Minister also highlighted PNGRB’s technology-enabled approach to regulation through the National Hydrocarbon Infrastructure Monitoring System (NHIMS), which brings together infrastructure, administrative, transport, geographical and satellite data on a common digital platform. The system is expected to strengthen monitoring, planning and regulatory oversight and enable more informed and timely decision-making.
Source:
Press Information Bureau
