New Delhi, Jan 10 (NationPress) Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri stated on Saturday that India’s energy strategy is undergoing rigorous testing and validation in actual conditions, as the country's infrastructure and services expand swiftly.

In a post on the social media platform X, Puri highlighted that the length of India’s natural gas pipeline has almost doubled from 15,000 km in 2014 to 25,429 km currently, with plans for an additional 33,475 km, indicating that "preparation is ahead of demand."

The minister remarked that "energy planning is evaluated daily under real-world scenarios," noting that 1.58 crore kitchens now benefit from piped natural gas without needing to schedule refills, serving as proof that "planning is effective."

According to him, when vehicles utilize cleaner fuel at 8,428 CNG stations, with a target to reach 18,336 by 2030, it demonstrates that plans are solidly established.

Puri emphasized that India’s energy frameworks are designed to be prepared before demand surges and stated that under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, effective planning is reflected in the smoothness of daily life.

In a separate post, Puri mentioned his engagement with professionals across various sectors during the 'Energy Dialogues' held in Chennai.

During this event, the minister addressed India’s significant advancements in biofuels blending, CBG, urea imports, aviation fuels, natural gas infrastructure, and the exploration of vital minerals.

Puri asserted that India is on track to become the third-largest economy globally, representing over 35% of the anticipated rise in global energy demand in the next twenty years.

"We are currently engaged in groundbreaking initiatives aimed at bolstering and expanding our energy production and infrastructure across the entire value chain, especially by increasing our refining capacity, which is already the fourth largest worldwide," he added.

The government has implemented various measures to improve the availability of natural gas for power generation, including the expansion of the National Gas Grid to connect domestic gas sources and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminals to power plants.

Additionally, it has introduced a unified tariff, established LNG terminals, and permitted domestic gas producers, who have been granted pricing and marketing autonomy, to sell domestic gas up to 500 million standard cubic meters or 10% of annual production from their contract area, whichever is greater, annually through authorized gas exchanges.