PATNA, April 21 -- The Bihar government on Monday directed oil companies to further accelerate piped natural gas (PNG) connections to up to 12,000 per month, even as more than 1.04 lakh households in Bihar were now receiving PNG, said a government communique following a high-level review meeting by chief secretary Pratyaya Amrit. Chairing a meeting of the crisis management group (CMG), Amrit directed officials to expedite PNG infrastructure development in coordination with district administrations. He emphasised immediate land allocation for gas stations in districts such as Darbhanga, Buxar and Madhubani, where approvals are pending. He also called for ward-level camps and door-to-door campaigns to boost PNG registrations and stressed strict adherence to safety norms laid down by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board. The chief secretary directed petroleum companies such as Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and GAIL to further scale up the rollout to 9,000-12,000 connections per month. Officials said 1,04,036 domestic PNG connections had been made 'live' as of April 18. The pace of expansion has picked up significantly in recent months. While the state had been adding 3,000-3,500 connections per month over the past year, the figure rose to 7,585 in March 2026, said the release. In a key milestone, Katihar was declared fully gasified on April 13, taking the total number of gasified districts in the state to 18. A gasified district refers to an area covered by a city gas distribution (CGD) network providing PNG to households and compressed natural gas (CNG) to vehicles. Alongside PNG expansion, the state has intensified inspections of LPG distributor outlets and godowns to ensure uninterrupted domestic LPG supply. According to reports till April 19, thousands of gas agencies and related establishments were inspected across districts. Enforcement action led to the seizure of 268 cylinders in Araria, 45 in Katihar, and 57 in Madhepura, with multiple FIRs and cases registered against illegal activities. Officials from the food and consumer protection department and representatives of oil companies attended the meeting. The chief secretary reiterated that ensuring uninterrupted access to clean cooking fuel remains a top government priority....