Planning Commission wants LPG replaced by LNG

The Planning Commission has asked the government to replace the expensive liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) with relatively cheaper liquefied natural gas (LNG), increase domestic natural gas prices and take immediate steps to implement cross-border gas pipelines — like Iran-Pakistan, and Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (Tapi) projects — to achieve energy sustainability. In a detailed policy advice, the Energy Planning and Resource Centre (EPRC) of the Planning Commission has also called for setting up a third floating LNG terminal, disconnecting gas supply to captive power plants of the industrial sector and using old gas fields to store imported LNG for peak consumption months. Stressing that the current gas pricing regime did not reflect the LNG basket price to the domestic sector, the EPRC advised the government to “take policy decisions to truly reflect the LNG-delivered cost in the gas pricing mechanism” as the existing gas pricing was not cost reflective. It said the supply of LNG through pipelines in areas where a gas distribution system is absent would be more affordable and accessible compared to the expensive and hazardous LPG.