IGL and Northern Railway partner to replace LPG and diesel with PNG across Delhi-NCR

Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL) has entered into an agreement with the Delhi Division of Northern Railway to supply piped natural gas (PNG) to 22 railway establishments across the Delhi-NCR region. The initiative is part of broader efforts to replace conventional fuels with natural gas under the government's PNG Drive 3.0.

Under the initial phase of the agreement, IGL will facilitate the supply of approximately 3,000 standard cubic metres of gas per day (SCMD). This supply is expected to replace the daily consumption of roughly 500 kg of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and 2,500 litres of diesel. The conversion covers multiple facilities, including railway mechanised laundries, base kitchens, officers' and subordinate rest houses, running rooms, and guard and ticket examiner lobbies located in Delhi, Ghaziabad, and Gautam Buddha Nagar.

Specifically, mechanised laundries at New Delhi, Old Delhi, Hazrat Nizamuddin, Delhi Sarai Rohilla, and Anand Vihar Terminal will utilize PNG to power boiler operations. IGL anticipates that consumption under this institutional partnership will scale up to 8,000 to 10,000 SCMD in coming years as pipeline infrastructure and connectivity expand across authorized geographical areas, which include Ajmer, Banda, Rewari, and Muzaffarnagar.

Senior officials from both organizations signed the agreement on Friday. IGL Chairman Subhankar Sen noted that the partnership brings together two entities focused on nation-building and could potentially pave the way for a broader transition from LPG to PNG across the wider Indian Railways network.

Pushpesh Raman Tripathi, Delhi Division Railway Manager, stated that the arrangement would assist the national transporter in lowering energy costs. He added that future plans involve extending PNG connectivity to railway hospitals and residential colonies.

Concurrently, IGL is working to expand household connections under the National PNG Drive 3.0. The company recently launched promotional incentives on October 28, offering a Rs 2,000 discount on standard domestic PNG registration charges alongside Rs 500 worth of free gas upon activation. These efforts are supported by structured outreach programmes and partnerships with resident welfare associations and apartment owners' bodies.

Managing Director Kumar Shanker emphasized that the twin initiatives are designed to widen pipeline-based natural gas access for institutional consumers while accelerating household connectivity through targeted outreach.

IGL currently manages city gas distribution networks across 34 districts in 11 geographical regions spanning Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan. Its operating infrastructure comprises over 30,000 kilometres of pipelines and more than 1,000 compressed natural gas (CNG) stations, serving over 2.5 million CNG vehicles and approximately 3.5 million PNG-connected households.

"This institutional partnership between IGL and Northern Railway demonstrates how public-sector collaborations can effectively drive cleaner energy adoption at scale. By transitioning large-scale commercial kitchens and laundries from LPG and diesel to piped natural gas, organizations can optimize operational energy costs while supporting national sustainability and import-reduction goals. Scaling such institutional models provides city gas distributors with predictable demand growth and sets a strong precedent for other commercial sectors." — Dr. Shishir Gupta, Founder & CEO, StartupLanes