Noida: Following the LPG supply disruption earlier in March due to the West Asia crisis, Noida recorded a rise in demand for piped natural gas (PNG) connections, with more than 10,000 new domestic consumers added in the last two months alone. Officials said the district now has a total of 4,11,748 domestic PNG connections.Restaurateurs, however, told TOI that though commercial establishments were also pushing for a PNG switch, getting NOC from the local authority posed a challenge. Less than 100 new commercial PNG connections were approved in the last two months.“The number of new connections has risen manifold, the number of monthly domestic connections used to be much lesser. Earlier, LPG cylinders and refills were readily available, so no one took the pain of applying for a PNG connection. However, after the crisis, people have realised that piped gas connections are more reliable and are getting connections,” said Smriti Gautam, district supply officer.UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath also recently directed officials and gas distribution agencies to speed up PNG coverage across urban areas.Data shows that the district recorded 12,629 registrations for PNG connections in March and 8,282 in April. Of these, 4,840 connections were completed in March and 5,963 in April. The rest are still being processed, officials said.Commercial establishments have also been seeking PNG connections in large numbers, but restaurant and small business owners say procedural hurdles are slowing the transition. In March, only 49 commercial PNG connections were completed, while the number was even smaller at 46 in April. The district has a total of 1,641 commercial PNG connections.“Many restaurants want PNG because commercial LPG has become expensive and supply disruptions affected kitchen operations. But the approval process is taking too long due to NOC-related issues,” said Varun Khera, president of the National Restaurants Association of India, Noida chapter.Easing commercial approval procedures could significantly increase adoption among restaurants, hotels and small food businesses in the district, he added.As of May 1, the price of a 19kg commercial LPG cylinder has gone up to Rs 993 in the city, with some parts of NCR seeing hikes of over Rs 3,000.To encourage more commercial consumers to shift to PNG, the petroleum ministry issued an order allowing a unit that has applied for PNG connections to retain 50% of its LPG cylinder quota until the PNG connection is installed. Discussions are being held with all stakeholders to resolve the issue and increase the pace of commercial PNG connections, officials said.“There are some logistical issues that are acting as hurdles from local authorities in establishing PNG connections for commercial establishments. We have conducted several meetings with the gas distribution company, restaurateurs and the local authority, and a solution is being worked out,” Gautam added.
