India: Petronet to set up 1,350 LNG filling stations across major highways

India’s biggest LNG player will expand its fueling infrastructure in a three-phase plan after the Government announced that marketing and distribution of LNG is allowed by any entity.

Petronet LNG Ltd, India’s biggest liquefied natural gas infrastructure company, will adopt a three-phase strategy to expand its footprint in the country after the Government of India allowed last month marketing and distribution of LNG by any player. As part of its strategy, Petronet plans to install 1,350 LNG filling stations across major national highways in India.

Petronet’s goals is to expand LNG infrastructure on highways where LNG has been so far largely unavailable for heavy vehicles. "There is a level playing field now for setting up of LNG dispensing station. So we have planned in three phases our LNG corridor development," Petronet LNG Director finance, Vinod K Mishra, told analyst.

In the first phase, to be completed by 2021, Petronet would roll out 50 filling points on five major highways including Western Corridor and Southern Corridor. In the second phase, the company would expand to install around 300 LNG fillings stations on all highways. In the third and last phase, the remaining 1,000 LNG sites would be set up.

"In most cases, we shall be tying up either with city gas distribution companies, oil market companies and other players because our intention is not to go too much in retail but enhance the usage of LNG in the automotive sector, especially in the long-haul trucks and interstate buses," added Mishra.

India counts with a total of 87 national highways interconnecting the country's capital and state capitals through important cities.

On 7 June, India’s Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) announced that any eligible entity would be allowed to install an LNG station anywhere in the country. The move aims at promoting LNG as an alternative fuel for heavy-duty vehicles, and at reducing India’s dependence on oil, as 80% of it is imported.