The Hindu Business Line : Regulator to shortly finalise first set of city gas distribution bids

Hyderabad, Aug. 28 The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) is set to shortly finalise bids for the first bunch of about seven city gas distribution networks, according to its Chairman, Mr L. Mansingh.

Speaking at the first roundtable hosted here by the Confederation of Indian Industry, Mr Mansingh said “We are working out ways to see how best we can expedite the roll out of city gas distribution networks, while taking into consideration the interests of all stakeholders.”

The event was hosted at Hyderabad, as the Krishna Godavari gas basin will play a big role in the country’s gas production and distribution capability.

The regulator is set to announce a few more notifications shortly and the effort is to minimise discretion in decision making and see that there are no hurdles in implementation, he said.

Explaining the procedure for bidding, Mr Mansingh said the distributor will be chosen and thereafter he will get about 90 days to get a firm tie-up for gas supplies.

Mr B.S. Negi, member of PNGRB, said “About 71 cities across the country, which have pipelines passing through them, have received interest. These include 61 cities where both Reliance and GAIL have shown interest. In other cities, we have received expression of interest.”

In Andhra Pradesh, for instance, interest for distribution was expressed in Rajahmundry, Hyderabad, Tirupathi, Vijayawada and Vizag and Yanam, which is part of Puducherry but near Rajahmundry.

Referring to the safety system, the regulator plans to work closely with the State and district administration to create a system to address safety issues. As a part of this, a meeting of the Emergency Response and Disaster Management Project will be convened at Jaipur during September 4-6 and a draft plan prepared.

LAST-MILE

To ensure financial viability of projects, the last-mile connectivity at the household or a small business user will be provided on payment of a refundable deposit of Rs 5,000.

Referring to providing authorisation through expression of interest, Mr Negi said the infrastructure thus created will have an economic life of 25 years, and after five years they will have to share the pipeline network.

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