Archive · 22 Aug 2026
Centre Unveils Incentive Scheme to Expand Domestic Piped Gas
The government wants more homes to use piped natural gas for cooking.
It has created a reward for companies that connect and activate more household customers.
For every qualifying new billed connection, a company can receive 200 standard cubic metres of cheaper domestic gas.
This gas may help companies reduce some of their overall fuel costs.
Lower costs could make it easier for them to build more pipelines and connections.
The government says the time needed to recover this investment could fall from about 10 years to three years.
Families will not automatically receive free connections or a direct cash subsidy under the scheme.
The plan will be measured in two stages over six months, based on connections that actually become billed customers.
Eligible city gas distributors will receive 200 standard cubic metres of lower-priced domestic gas for each qualifying additional billed household connection.
The incentive applies to connections exceeding prescribed geographical-area thresholds and is aimed at distributors, not consumers directly.
Distributors can use cheaper domestic gas to replace some costlier LNG used in their compressed natural gas business.
The government estimates the scheme could reduce the payback period for household PNG infrastructure from about 10 years to approximately three years.
The program will run in two performance-linked tranches over six months, emphasizing active billed connections rather than installations alone.
- Who
- The Centre and eligible city gas distribution entities.
- What
- An incentive scheme offering additional lower-priced domestic gas for qualifying incremental billed domestic PNG connections.
- When
- The scheme will operate in two tranches over a six-month performance period.
- Where
- Across India, with thresholds set for individual geographical areas.
- Why
- To encourage distributors to expand household PNG networks, activate inactive connections and increase access to cleaner cooking fuel.
- Incentive amount
- 200 standard cubic metres of domestically produced, lower-priced APM gas per qualifying incremental billed domestic connection.
- Recipients
- Eligible city gas distribution entities.
- Current connections
- Approximately 1.74 crore domestic PNG connections exist across India.
- Estimated payback change
- The estimated payback period for domestic PNG capital expenditure could fall from around 10 years to approximately three years.
- Implementation
- Two incentive tranches spanning six months.
- Consumer benefit
- The scheme is intended to improve the availability of continuously supplied piped cooking gas.
- Direct subsidy
- The scheme does not provide households with free connections or a direct consumer subsidy.