Around 12,000-km pipeline network has been approved or is under construction
Natural Gas has huge potential in providing solutions to the environmental challenges as well as ever growing energy needs in a sustainable manner, says Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.
He also pointed out that the Indian Government is focused on promoting Natural Gas as a fuel and feedstock across the country to increase the share of this environmentally-friendly fuel in primary energy mix from current level to 15% in coming years.
Briefing media at the launch of 12th City Gas Distribution (CGD) Bidding Round on 12 Oct 2023, Puri also updated the success of 11th CGD bidding round has increased potential coverage of CGD sector to about 98% population and 88% geographical area of the country.
The 12th bidding round launched on 12 Oct 2023 by Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) will help in expansion of CGD coverage further, he added.
The Minister highlighted the importance of pipelines as economical means of gas transport in the country and shared about the growth in pipeline network to about 23,500-km.
Further, around 12,000-km gas pipeline network has been approved and is under construction. Efforts are underway to complete the vision of One Nation One Gas Grid by 2030, he pointed out.
He elaborated on the steps taken by government for meeting the growing demand of CGD sector and insulate the common people from price volatility.
The Government released new CGD sector Gas allocation Guidelines wherein allocation of Domestic APM Gas was increased to CGD entities which has reduced basic cost of the Gas to CGD entities substantially by diverting the gas from other sectors.
Puri said that the government had insulated people common from recent turmoil in oil and gas prices caused by Geo Political events.
“We had taken measures so that impact of surge of international gas prices did not pass on to the consumers of the country,” the Minister assured.
Currently, there are 300 Geographical Areas (GAs) authorised by PNGRB covering around 88% of the country’s geographical area and 98% of its population.
PNGRB has also authorized around 32,203-km of natural gas trunk pipelines in the country out of which around 22,191-km of pipeline are currently operational.
In order to further expand the reach of natural gas in the country, PNGRB is in the process of inviting electronic bids from interested parties for 12th CGD bidding round offering 7 GAs covering five North East states viz. Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland & Sikkim and UTs of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
Calls for the electronic bids began from 13 Oct 2023, the last date for submission of bids is 11 Jan 2024 and PNGRB intends to finalise the award by Mar 2024.
After completion of 12th CGD bidding round, almost entire part of the country, except Mizoram (as the election date was announced on 09 Oct 2023), Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep will be covered under the City Gas Distribution network providing access to cleaner cooking fuel to households, other industrial and commercial facilities as well as fuel for transportation.
This amounts to a giant leap by the PNGRB towards improving the share of natural gas in the country’s energy mix. India’s current share of Gas in the Energy mix stands at 5.78%, which is slated to increase to 15% by 2030 thereby creating a gas-based economy. Fiinews.com
