Indraprastha Gas Ltd, the firm that retails CNG to automobiles in the national capital, on Monday shut down nearly two-third of its CNG dispensing outlets in Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad as most vehicles went off-road due to coronavirus lockdown.

While the company will operate 55 outlets spread across the national capital territory to cater to limited demand as part of the rationalisation exercise, its piped natural gas supplies will remain unaffected by the lockdown.

However, fresh piped natural gas (PNG) connections will not be issued during the lockdown period.

"In view of the lockdown announced in NCT of Delhi, Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad and Gurugram, IGL has decided to rationalise its services through its select CNG stations for public fueling.

"A total of 55 CNG stations of IGL shall be in operation during the period of lockdown from March 23, 2020, till March 31, 2020, for public fueling in these areas primarily to meet the requirements of emergency vehicles and essential service vehicles," it said in a statement.

IGL has some 155 self-operated CNG stations in the NCT. The CNG dispensing operations at petrol pumps as well as Delhi Transport Corp (DTC) depots will continue unhindered.

Of the 55 operational CNG stations, 44 are located in Delhi, five in Ghaziabad, three in Noida, two in Greater Noida and one in Gurugram.

"The CNG stations located in DTC depots shall also be operational as per requirements of DTC fleet," the statement said.

IGL said the supply of PNG to household kitchens shall remain uninterrupted during the period and area control rooms shall remain functional to attend to any customer complaint received through 24x7 customer care or any other digital mode like e-mail, website or IGL Connect Mobile App.

"However, the task of providing new PNG connections would be on hold," it added.