India visualizes $4.95 bn investment on natural gas in Kashmir and northeast region 

According to a minister on Monday, India anticipates that businesses would invest roughly 410 billion rupees ($4.95 billion) to construct natural gas pipeline infrastructure in its northern federal territories of Kashmir and Ladakh as well as its northeastern provinces.

India, one of the top producers of greenhouse gases globally, has set a target of net zero carbon emissions by 2070 and is working to reduce its carbon emissions by increasing the use of cleaner fuel.

By 2030, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to increase natural gas’s proportion in India’s energy mix from 6.2% to 15%. Although it is still a fossil fuel, natural gas produces less CO2 than coal.

“The envisaged natural gas infrastructure development in north-east states would also lead to better utilisation of domestic gas being produced locally in the region,” Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri mentioned in a press meet.

For licenses to deliver natural gas to homes, small businesses, and cars in five northeastern states (Nagaaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh) as well as the northern union territories of Kashmir and Ladakh, India requested bids in October.

By the end of 2025, the entire northeast would be covered by the city gas distribution (CGD) network, according to Anil K. Jain, chairman of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB), during a press conference.

A license to establish a CGD network in one northeastern state each is held by Bharat Petroleum Corp and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. A license to establish a CGD in two regions was also obtained by the northeast-focused explorer Oil India through independent partnerships with Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum.