India is urging households to increase their reliance on piped natural gas (PNG) as the country reels from the energy fallout of the war – a move that could transform cooking habits for tens of millions of people.

Households across urban and rural India rely heavily on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders as their primary cooking fuel, which are delivered everywhere from high-rise apartment blocks to remote village clusters.

However, India’s PNG infrastructure – gas delivered via pipeline – has been steadily expanding in recent years, with more than 15 million registered household connections across the country.

The nation of 1.4 billion imports much of its LPG from the Middle East. By contrast, its PNG supply does not rely as heavily on imports.

“We produce 50% domestically as far as PNG is concerned. So, this is in the interest of (the) nation that we shift from LPG to PNG,” Sujata Sharma, joint secretary in the ministry of petroleum said.

The government this week ordered an expansion of the country’s natural gas infrastructure and directed households in areas with existing piped gas networks to make the switch within three months of receiving a mailed notice. Households that fail to do so could lose access to their LPG supply, the order said.

This has caused some anxiety among residents.

“Our entire neighborhood runs on LPG,” said Chandra Tandon, a grocery store owner in Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar neighborhood.

Chandra said she was unaware of the notice and unsure how to make the switch.

“Maybe once this war is over, this will go away,” she said. “I’m worried.”
Meanwhile, black-market sales of LPG cylinders and a spike in induction stove purchases have been reported across India.

Other countries in Asia are implementing emergency measures to deal with the energy crisis.

Source: CNN

- Agencies