Oil regulator PNGRB has added Mizoram to the areas it has offered for
bidding for a licence to retail CNG and piped cooking gas in the latest city
gas bid round.
In a notice, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board or PNGRB said
in continuation of the bids invited on October 13 for the development of the
city gas distribution network for seven geographical areas, electronic bids are
invited for the same in the state of Mizoram.
Last date of bidding is February 23, it said.
PNGRB had offered seven geographical areas of Arunachal Pradesh,
Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland, Sikkim, Union territory of Jammu & Kashmir
and Ladakh under the 12th city gas distribution (CGD) bidding round for
retailing of CNG to automobiles and piping the fuel to household kitchens and
industries.
Mizoram was also identified to be part of the bid round but it was
included as assembly elections had been announced and a clearance from the
Election Commission was needed to be obtained.
Polling concluded in Mizoram on November 7.
There are 300 authorised GAs by PNGRB covering around 88 per cent of the
country’s geographical area and 98 per cent of its population.
On successful completion of the current bid round, India’s entire area
and population will be covered except the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and
Lakshadweep.
The bid round is part of the government’s aim to promote the use of
natural gas as a fuel/feedstock across the country to increase its share in
primary energy mix from the current level of 6.2 per cent to 15 per cent by
2030.
A presentation by the regulator at the launch of 12th bid round last
month stated that an investment of US$ 4.5 billion is expected in the
development of city gas infrastructure in the areas being bid out.
The country has 1.15 crore house kitchens connected with piped natural
gas. There are some 5,900 CNG stations in the country.
The city gas sector consumes about 35 million standard cubic meters per
day or 22 per cent of all gas consumed in the country.
In the last 11th and 11A CGD bidding rounds, PNGRB authorised 67 GAs for
the development of the CGD network in the country.
PTI
