New Delhi: Amidst reports of shortage of LPG cylinders and black marketing in the country’s capital Delhi, a large number of people are now turning to Piped Natural Gas (PNG). This is the reason why the demand for new PNG connections in the capital has suddenly increased and Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) is receiving many times more calls every day than before.
According to IGL officials, till last week the company used to receive around 100 calls daily, but now this number has increased to around 300 calls daily. This means that within just one week the demand has almost tripled. The company says that due to the news of gas shortage and black marketing of LPG cylinders, people are showing more interest in taking PNG connections. Many families are now looking for a permanent gas system, so they are considering pipe gas as a better option.
Additional teams deployed to handle increasing demand
IGL officials said that in view of the increasing demand, the company has deployed additional teams. At present the company has the capacity to open more than 1000 domestic PNG connections every day in Delhi. A company official said that on the basis of all the requests being received, efforts are being made to establish as many new connections as possible. For this, the number of employees has also been increased so that people can get the facility as soon as possible.
The number of people resuming old connections also increased
According to IGL, not only new connections are being made, but also the number of consumers who had earlier closed their PNG connection and now want to get it restarted is also increasing. Till last week, the company used to receive about 150 to 200 such calls every day, but now this number has increased to more than 350. These families already have PNG infrastructure in their homes, so they want to get the connection restored quickly.
Reduction in gas supply to industries by 20%
On the other hand, some non-domestic consumers say that IGL has imposed a limit of 80 percent on gas supply. According to officials, this step has been taken as per government instructions. Shrish Sharma, vice president of Mundka Industrial Area Welfare Committee, says that about 30 to 40 percent of the industries in the area have been affected by this decision.
He says that the supply is being decided on the basis of average consumption of the last three months. At that time the consumption of gas was less, hence now sufficient gas is not available at the time of need. He said that industries using gas-powered generators are facing the most problems.
Industry organizations expressed concern
Major trade and industry organizations of Delhi have also expressed concern over this decision. The organization says that due to increasing geopolitical tension in West Asia, there is a possibility of gas supply being affected and its burden is being passed directly on domestic industries, especially MSMEs. According to the Chamber, in the last several years, Delhi’s industries had started using PNG instead of traditional fuel following the instructions of the government and environmental rules. For this, companies had also invested a lot.
Organization head Raghuvansh Arora says that due to sudden cut in gas supply, many small and medium industries may find it difficult to run their business. He also said that such a big decision has been taken without adequate discussion with the industry and it is not clear how long this arrangement will continue. Experts believe that if the gas supply situation does not normalize soon, it may affect domestic consumers as well as industries.
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