He dedicated 166 new CNG stations to the country via video link at a function in Delhi. These CNG stations have been set up by state-owned Gail in 41 geographical areas across 14 states.
Puri said that number of piped natural gas connections to households and industrial units has crossed 9.5mn compared with 2.4mn in 2014. The minister said that the fast rollout of CNG stations is expected to incentivise the market for CNG vehicles and will have an "exponential impact" in terms of manufacturing, skill development and employment generation.
In order to tackle air pollution, India is aiming to increase the share of natural gas in the overall energy mix to 15% by 2030 from about 6-7% now.
