Building a Resilient & Sustainable Gas Based Economy for India
Rahul Tandon is a seasoned energy leader with over two decades of experience driving growth, sustainability, and innovation in the gas sector. Passionate about clean energy, he focuses on expanding access to PNG and CNG while integrating technology-driven solutions for greater efficiency and reliability. With a strong foundation in business strategy and digital transformation from SPJIMR and MIT, Rahul blends visionary thinking with actionable initiatives, creating energy solutions that balance progress, environmental responsibility, and social impact.
In a recent interaction with M R Yuvatha, Senior Correspondent at siliconindia, Rahul Tandon, Business Head, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited shared his insights on ‘Building a Resilient and Sustainable Gas-Based Economy for India’.
How are emerging technologies such as AI monitoring, smart metering, and advanced compression boosting efficiency and reliability in natural gas use across homes, businesses, and industry?
Pipelines: Fiber-optic distributed acoustic sensing (DAS), drones and satellite analytics spot third-party intrusion and tiny leaks in near real-time. India’s Pipeline operators have already piloted satellite and drone patrols. India has been a pioneer in that segment thanks to ISRO and MoP&G who have carried out various projects involving satellite data and airborne remote sensing data for optimization of pipeline corridor.
IOCL had done Coal Fire mapping along HaldiaBarauni pipeline to detect potential threat of coal fires near IOCL pipelines. GAIL India Ltd. Maintains more than 16,000 Km of natural gas Pipeline infrastructure for which ISRO has developed PIPELINE SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM using multiple satellites and in house software for which ISRO has received patent. Ne potential application involve Monitoring of Methane (CH4) leakage in Oil & Gas fields from space.
City Gas (CGD): Smart gas meters (prepaid-IoT) shrink commercial losses, enable pay-as-you-go, smooth billing, and give demand visibility for load management. India now has a domestic smart-meter manufacturing JV and prepaid PNG pilots live.
Compression & stations: Variable-speed drives, magnetic bearings, and predictive maintenance have reduced energy usage by 10-25 percent at CNG/LNG and compressor stations.
What strategies can India implement to diversify natural gas sources, reduce import dependency, and mitigate geopolitical risks to ensure uninterrupted supply?
Five levers that work together:
• Source diversification: Balance long-term LNG (Qatar, US, others) with flexible spot cargoes; keep a portfolio of different indices(brent, HH, JKM etc) and different tenors contracts.
• Domestic supply uplift: Sustain exploration in deepwater (e.g., KG-D6) and CBM; streamline tie-ins so incremental molecules reach market faster.
• Infrastructure depth: Expand Regasification capacity and evacuation pipelines; India targets ~66.7 MTPA LNG import capacity by 2030 (from ~52.7 today). Redundancy across coasts reduces geopolitical routing risk.
• Unified pipeline tariff & open access: A singlezone tariff lowers delivered cost to inland India and encourages multi-source routing; PNGRB’s unified tariff regime is in force. In fact in Europe there are no pipeline transmission tariff instead they only have Gas injection and gas ejection charges for the pipeline irrespective of distance between source and supply. India can adopt the model for faster penetration of NG across the country.
• Alternative domestic molecules: Scale CBG/ biomethane via the new CBG Blending Obligation (CBO) 1 percent in FY26, 3 percent in FY27, 4 percent in FY28, 5 percent from FY29 for CNG/PNG creating a non-imported buffer.
To what extent can expanding a gasbased economy help India achieve net-zero targets, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and transition away from coaldependent energy systems?
Transitional decarboniser: Replacing coal/diesel with natural gas cuts CO₂ per kWh/tonne-steam and slashes SOx, NOx, PM immediate air-quality benefits while renewables and storage scale. In fact consumption of 1000 M2 of Gas provides reduction of around 340 KGs of CO2.
Bridge to green molecules: Gas networks are pathways for biomethane today (via CBO) and hydrogen tomorrow (industrial blending/use); both are consistent with India’s Net-Zero 2070 commitment and Green Hydrogen Mission.
Reality check: Gas isn’t the end-state; it’s the pragmatic bridge that lets India reduce coal dependence faster without risking growth or grid stability. The government still targets raising gas’s share of energy from ~6 percent to 15 percent by 2030 to enable this shift.
How can a resilient gas-based infrastructure stimulate industrial development, enhance MSME competitiveness, and create new employment opportunities across sectors?
Competitive energy for MSMEs: Reliable PNG/CNG lowers total cost of heat/power for clusters (ceramics, food processing, engineering, textiles) and improves product quality often unlocking export markets.
After 12 CGD rounds, 99 percent of India’s population is within authorised Gas creating a nationwide industrial platform as networks densify.
New value chains & jobs: CGD build-out, metering, fabrication, O&M, small-scale LNG/LCNG, and CBG logistics create local employment and MSME opportunities in EPC, services, and agri-waste supply chains.
Logistics decarbonisation: LNG for heavy trucks reduces fuel cost and emissions on long-haul corridors.
Which regulatory frameworks and government initiatives are essential to encourage private investment, ensure fair pricing, and promote transparency in India’s natural gas sector?
Gas pricing reforms (APM): Since April 2023, APM gas is linked to 10 percent of the Indian crude basket with floor/ ceiling stabilising city-gas retail and industrial tariffs. Premium pricing remains for deep-water/difficult gas with periodic ceilings.
CBG Blending Obligation (CBO): Creates bankable offtake for biomethane, MDA for bio-fertiliser offtake (Rs 1,500/tonne) improves project IRRs.
LNG for transport: PNGRB’s 2020 notifications allow LNG retail outlets irrespective of CGD authorisation spurring private investment along highways/mining belts. Boil off gas (BOG) which was a major concern in the industry has been suitably addressed by PNG in Sep’25 allowing for sale of surplus BOG to CGD entities under a regulated price band.
What innovative financing, distribution, and awareness models can accelerate natural gas adoption among households, commercial enterprises, and industrial users while keeping it affordable?
Virtual pipelines’ (LNG by road, LCNG satellites) are used to seed demand before steel pipelines are installed.
Prepaid smart PNG for households and small shops, along with time-of-day CNG tariffs where feasible, help spread peak loads.
LNG trucking corridors with a common card/payment system streamline operations.
Total-cost-of-ownership (TCO) tools for MSMEs and fleets show payback versus FO/diesel and highlight emissions reductions in local languages.
Carbon revenue stacking enables industrial users to tap the emerging Indian Carbon Market (CCTS) for verified reductions from fuel-switching and efficiency improvements.
