India to push LNG, CNG use during 2016

India's government has set ambitious natural gas targets for 2016 by pursuing 10,000 new LPG dealerships and a hundred new CNG fuelling stations.

Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced on January 1 that 2016 would be the “year for LPG retail dealers,” as the governement hopes to make the fuel available for the country´s entire population by 2018, reported ZeeNews India.

"Oil marketing companies have done the basic spadework. We are getting suggestions from MPs and states about locations where LPG retail dealerships can be opened," said Pradhan.

The Indian Oil Minister also spoke of growth targets for the use of compressed natural gas (CNG) for vehicles, as they expect to maintain CNG prices uniform across the New Delhi region.

In addition, Pradhan said that they target 104 new openings of CNG fuelling stations by oil marketing companies during the next three months, adding to the existing network of 350 CNG filling stations.