India PNG Incentive Scheme Starts September 1

The Indian government announced an incentive scheme on August 18, 2026, to accelerate the activation of domestic piped natural gas (PNG) connections, offering city gas distributors additional lower-priced gas to make household expansion more financially attractive. Effective from September 1, the scheme provides an extra 200 standard cubic metres (SCM) of domestically produced, administered price mechanism (APM) gas for every incremental billed household connection a company activates above a set threshold for its area.

The move targets a critical gap in the country's gas distribution network. While about 17.4 million domestic PNG connections have been established nationwide, only approximately 11.5 million are currently billed and active, meaning millions of households have access to infrastructure but are not using the piped cooking fuel. The incentive is designed to convert these inactive or unbilled connections into active, paying customers and to extend pipelines into new areas. Officials stated the objective is to shift the focus from merely reporting connection numbers to ensuring actual gasified connections.

Under the scheme, eligible city gas distribution (CGD)...