New Delhi [India], July 16 (ANI): Taking a significant step toward building a Natural Gas-based economy, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Housing and Urban Affairs Shri Hardeep Singh Puri on Friday dedicated 166 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations to service of the community.

Guwahati Sep 24 PTI Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Friday said the Centre has approved Rs one lakh crore for oil and gas projects of the North-eastern region and these were expected to be completed by 2025The exploration acreage in the region will be doubled from the existing 30000 square kilometres to 6000 sq kms by 2025 while approximately 20000 sq kms have already been awarded under Open Acreage Licensing Policy OALP over the last three years Puri saidThe central government has undertaken many key initiatives to augment Infrastructure and pace of economic development in the region since the previous Look East policy was transformed to Act East policy by Prime Minister Narendra Modi he saidThe Northeast is of strategic importance for the country the minister told a press conference after an interactive meeting with investors and industry leaders for the Exploration and Production EP investment opportunities in the region The North-eastern states are perceived to be highly prospective based on available geo-scientific information and hence ample opportunities for potential oil and gas finds through accelerated exploration exist in the region the minister saidOf the projects for which Rs one lakh crore was approved the prominent ones are the Rs 27000 crore upstream project Rs 30000 crore for Numaligarh Refinery Limited NRL Rs 10000 crore for Indradhanush Gas Grid Limited and Rs 33000 crore under the City Gas Distribution CGDThe government has initiated a special bidding round under OALP for the region with acreages being carved out and offered additional incentives for attracting investments Puri addedWhile the exploration acreage will be doubled there are also plans to double the production of oil and gas from the current nine MMTOE million metric tonnes of oil equivalent to 18 MMTOE by 2025 he said The minister said the government has plans to set up a dedicated service provider hub in the region to support requirement of the oil and gas industry in collaboration with state governments and implement the North East Gas Grid NEGG to provide access of natural gas to end-users Six Geographical Areas GAs comprising 18 districts in Assam and Tripura are on offer under the 11th Round of CGD Bid Round for developing the City Gas Distribution CGD network he added The prime minister had announced that 20 per cent blending of ethanol with petrol should be completed by 2025 he saidWe have got an overwhelming response in this regard from the Northeast We are sure that we will cross the target soon Puri said In Assam a bamboo-based ethanol plant has been set up at the NRL and more grain-based plants are also expected to come up in the region the minister said He also announced that Digboi refinery the oldest in the country will be expanded soon There is a huge hydrocarbon potential waiting to be tapped and of the estimated 7600 MMTOE in the Northeast only 2000 MMTOE has been discovered so far With concerted efforts by the industry and governments oil production is expected to increase by 67 per cent from 411 MMT in 2020-21 to 685 MMT in the next four years while gas production is also expected to more than double from 505 Billion Cubic Metre BCM in 2020-21 to 1087 BCM in the next four years The Union minister said Fridays meeting was held to send a strong message to investors that ample reserves are available in the region and they should actively participate in the upcoming rounds and become part of the national EP enterprise which is set to gather momentum in the days ahead The objective of the meet was to highlight the portfolio of high-volume oil and gas assets of Indian Sedimentary basins and to promote the Bidding Rounds of Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy and Discovered Small Field Policy Officials of the central and state governments national oil companies private EP companies service providers and academic institutions participated in the meet PTI DG NN NN