AP Pushing 10 Lakh PNG Connections for Households an Uphill Task

Andhra Pradesh government may face an uphill task in its attempt to issue 10 lakh piped natural gas (PNG) connections in the next six months. The endeavour will require it to source the natural gas and from there lay trunk pipelines for transport of gas to the gas distribution entities of the targeted cities.

As of March 2026, AP has 66,892 PNG connections. It has added about 2,000 connections during April, though a pipeline network has already been laid for providing total 1.7 lakh connections. Meters will have to be fitted once PNG supply starts for the 1.7 lakh households.

In the interim, the five city gas distribution entities have come up with a revised capital expenditure ₹760 crore for expansion of PNG supply. Further, the Civil Supplies department has issued a GO on April 10 to pay ₹2,400 per annum directly to beneficiaries of Deepam 2.0 once they switch over the PNG from the three LPG cylinders, which are currently being supplied to them free of cost per annum. The Deepam households will have to surrender their LPG connections once they convert to PNG.

With Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu fixing the target of providing 10 lakh PNG connections in six months, district collectors, district Civil Supplies officers, employees of Swarna Gram and Swarna Ward department and the city gas distribution entities are publicising the PNG supply in an aggressive manner.

However, with the LPG crisis easing a bit with availability of both domestic and commercial cylinders, consumers are not coming forward to convert their connections to PNG. This is posing a big challenge to the state government, which maintains that PNG is safer and cheaper when compared with LPG. As PNG connections are non-transferable, given the establishment of infrastructure, tenants have to get permission from owners of their houses to avail the PNG connection. But there is no certainty on how long the tenant will stay in the same house. There is hesitation among tenants about switching over to PNG, because they can carry their LPG cylinder once they vacate the house. PNG supply is aimed at domestic, commercial and industrial consumers. So far, however, only industries are opting for piped natural gas. For example, Visakha Steel Plant is drawing 50,000 cubic meters of natural gas.

For PNG to be supplied to households and commercial establishments, laying of trunk pipelines and subsidiary pipelines for supplying the gas are major tasks. Currently, city gas distribution entities like IOCL and others are importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) and collecting at the Ennore terminal in Chennai and Dhamra Port in Odisha. From there, the LNG is sent to regasification units before being supplied as PNG through pipelines.

The other source of PNG will be natural gas available in the oil fields of Krishna-Godavari basin, which are being operated by ONGC and RIL. Their gas will be transported through pipelines laid by GAIL and used as PNG. The proposal to lay a trunk pipeline for transportation of gas from Kakinada to Srikakulam is in the bidding stage. Once it is finalised, the pipeline will be laid from Angul in Odisha to Srikakulam and to Kakinada. Another trunk pipeline connecting Kakinada to Nellore is also under consideration.

AP Gas Infrastructure Corporation in-charge managing director Praveen Aditya said, “We are making all efforts to promote PNG in a big way. Once the laying of trunk lines is completed, we will be able to expedite PNG connectivity in the state.”