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Virendra Pandit

Vadodara, Sept 27 About eight crore people across 70 cities in India are expected to benefit from the ongoing development of the 8,000-km national gas grid, Mr B.S. Negi, Member, Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB), said.

Before the board’s establishment, only 8 lakh households and 4 lakh CNG-based vehicles benefited across 19 cities as part of the CGD (city gas distribution) network, he said while stressing that gas is emerging as an energy base for the future economy of India. The eight sections of this national gas grid are expected to involve an investment of Rs 40,000 crore.

An additional Rs 80,000 crore would be invested in the CGD network, under which more than 200 towns and cities are being covered locally, Mr Negi said at a seminar held in Vadodara on the ‘Impact and benefits of PNGRB Act 2006’, under the aegis of IEEE Power and Energy Society of India (IEEEPES) and sponsored by GAIL, ONGC and GSPC.

Each city covered by the grid would have an investment of $50-200 million over the next two to five years. For the CGD, the Centre has so far authorised 11 of the 26 existing entities who have applied for it, he said. More are likely to be authorised in the next couple of months. Several entities have also submitted expression of interest (EOI) for the CGD in 70 cities so far. Many places are likely to have multiple gas suppliers, thereby ensuring healthy competition in the interest of the consumer. The board would enforce uniform safety standards, service obligations and growth commitment by providing a level-playing field to the entities.

IEEEPES Chairman Mr Hasmukh Shah, quoting his letter to President Ms Pratibha Patil, stressed the need for immediate enforcement of the 2006 Act and regretted that suppliers and distributors of petroleum products were taking undue advantage of the delay by arbitrarily increasing the prices of various products. He also emphasised the need for expanding the board’s purview to include upstream and midstream segments.

During discussions, Mr Negi and other speakers said hydrogen is the future energy resource globally and stressed the need for use of nanotechnology for optimum storage of hydrogen in solid-state nano alloys.

Nanotechnology would provide more and more natural resources to entrepreneurs and consumers of hydrocarbons onshore and offshore, Mr Shah said.

More Stories on : Petroleum | GAIL (India) Ltd

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