New Delhi, Oct. 31 -- Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL) has signed an agreement with the Delhi Division of Northern Railway to supply piped natural gas (PNG) to 22 railway establishments across Delhi-NCR, as the city gas distributor steps up efforts to replace conventional fuels with natural gas under the government's PNG Drive 3.0.
The agreement will initially facilitate the supply of around 3,000 standard cubic metres of gas per day (SCMD), replacing consumption of approximately 500 kg of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and 2,500 litres of diesel daily, IGL said in a statement.
The proposed conversion will cover railway mechanised laundries, officers' rest houses, base kitchens, running rooms, subordinate rest houses and guard and ticket examiner lobbies across Delhi, Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddha Nagar. The mechanised laundries at Delhi Sarai Rohilla, Old Delhi, Anand Vihar Terminal, Hazrat Nizamuddin and New Delhi will use PNG for boiler operations. IGL expects consumption under the initiative to increase to 8,000-10,000 SCMD in the coming years as pipeline infrastructure and connectivity expand across its authorised geographical areas, including Ajmer, Banda, Rewari and Muzaffarnagar.
The agreement, signed on Friday in the presence of senior officials from both organisations, is part of a broader push to expand natural gas consumption among institutional and commercial users and reduce reliance on imported fuels.
"This partnership brings together two major organisations committed to nation building. Indian Railways has chosen IGL as its collaborative partner to replace LPG with PNG and this MoU will facilitate the substitution of a substantial quantity of LPG with natural gas, thereby helping reduce import dependence and the associated subsidy burden," IGL Chairman Subhankar Sen said.
He added that the collaboration could pave the way for a wider transition from LPG to PNG across the Indian Railways network, extending its impact beyond Delhi. Delhi Division Railway Manager Pushpesh Raman Tripathi said the agreement would help reduce energy costs for the national transporter and that PNG connectivity could subsequently be extended to railway hospitals and residential colonies. "This MoU will help reduce substantial energy costs for Indian Railways and we plan to extend PNG connectivity to railway hospitals and residential colonies in the future as well," he said.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.