The Hindu Business Line : Panna-Mukta gas supply to normalise this week

The production of natural gas from the Panna-Mukta-Tapti (PMT) gas fields, which resumed a couple of days ago, would be normalised in the next two to three days, Dr U.D. Choubey, Chairman and Managing Director, GAIL (India) Ltd, said on Monday.

Due to an accident a few weeks ago, production had been stopped at Panna.

Speaking at a function at the Institute of Petroleum Management, Gandhinagar (IPMG) and later replying to the reporters’ questions, he said the hydrocarbon sector is likely to witness a 5 per cent growth rate in India, double than that in the world in the coming years. India’s import of hydrocarbon products could also increase from the 75 per cent of our needs ($130 billion, 15 per cent of GDP) to 90 per cent by 2020.”

Mr D.J. Pandian, Managing Director, Gujarat State Petroleum Corp, which set up the institute, was present.

Dr Choubey asked the sector professionals and managers to work on inter-fuel substitute strategies. Nearly 60-70 per cent of the crude that India buys in West Asia goes into the transportation sector. “The way we have evolved CNG, we should also evolve inter-fuel mechanisms and save Rs60,000 crore worth of foreign exchange.”

National gas grid

Replying to questions, Dr Choubey said GAIL is going ahead in a phased manner with its national gas grid, involving investments of Rs 35,000 crore. Of this, Rs 25,000 crore would be invested on the pipelines, Rs 5,000 crore on city gas distribution network and Rs 5,000 crore on petrochemical complexes. GAIL would cover nearly 260 towns and cities across India. It would open around 500 CNG stations in a year. Other entities would also set up CNG stations, thus doubling the number in four years.

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