Consumer-Linked Incentives Can Boost Natural Gas In Energy Mix, Says Adani Total CEO

The natural gas contribution to the energy mix has fallen in recent times, on account of increase in energy basket. If the country has to boost the natural gas adoption to meet its 2030 target, it is crucial that micro consumers and small enterprises are brought into the fold through proper incentive structure, said Suresh P Manglani of Adani Total Gas.

Natural gas contribution to the total energy mix has dropped from 6.5% to 6.1% due to increase in the energy basket, even as the target is to increase it to 15% by 2030, Manglani, chief executive officer of Adani Total Gas Ltd., told NDTV Profit.

"In order to increase the contribution, it is imperative that the government introduces consumer-linked incentives for micro consumers, on the lines of production-linked incentives, for the next five years," he said.

This, along with incentives for MSMEs, will help India meet its target on time. "MSME sector alone has potential demand of 100 MMSCMD of natural gas and providing it to them will help create level-playing field across industries in the country," the CEO said.

These measures will help India remove health hazards and use cleaner fuel in place of diesel and petrol as it transitions away from fossil fuels, according to him.

The city gas distributor plans to become a multi-fuel retailer by entering into compressed biogas, electric vehicle charging, and liquefied natural gas supply space, apart from their core compressed natural gas and piped natural gas business.

"We believe compressed biogas and municipal solid waste will emerge as big opportunity in India. Keeping that in mind, we have set up a new subsidiary for the CBG business and we are setting up the largest CBG project at Barsana near Mathura, and another project on municipal solid waste in Ahmedabad. This, we see as supplementing the supply of organic natural gas from our retail outlets," Manglani said.

The company is also setting up EV charging facilities across the country. "Right now, we are present in 10 states and 46 cities. Soon, we will be in 20 states and 130 cities," he said.

Besides, LNG is developing as an important fuel for transport and mining sector, he said. Energy transition from diesel to LNG will happen soon and this will provide a big opportunity, according to him.

At present, India consumes around 80 million metric tonne of diesel, of which 50% is consumed by long-haul trucks and buses. This is going to grow and with conducive policies, this segment will present good opportunity as seen in China and other parts of the world, Manglani said.

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