The Karnataka Cabinet on Wednesday cleared the Memorandum of Association (MOA) between Karnataka State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (KSIIDC) and GAIL Gas Limited.

Briefing reporters after the Cabinet meet, TB Jayachandra, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, said the MOA is to create a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to expedite gas distribution in towns and cities that are located along the Dabhol-Bengaluru gas pipeline route.

The special purpose vehicle is expected to implement the city gas distribution (CGD) project and is being named Karnataka Natural Gas Corporation. The CGD project is expected to cover towns and cities in the districts of Bengaluru, Belagavi, Vijayapura, Dharwad, Davangere, Chitradurga and Tumakuru.

“Now that the company is being incorporated, it has to participate in city-wise bidding conducted by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) to get licence to implement the project,” a senior GAIL official said.

Few months ago, Partha Jana, General Manager (PE) of GAIL Gas, had told reporters that about 500 km of pipes has been laid. “Under the CGD project, which included piped gas for homes, commercial and industrial areas and CNG for vehicles, a total of 4,395 sq km will be covered apart from the city’s adjoining areas such as Nelamangala, Doddaballapura, Devanahalli, Hoskote and Anekal,” he had said.

GAIL has already commissioned a trunk gas pipeline of 16 MMSCMD capacity and covering a distance of 746 km.

Through the help of KSIIDC, public transport is being targeted to promote CNG in the automotive sector. As a first step, few vehicles were retrofitted with CNG and tested. Now, based on the positive feedback, more government vehicles are being covered. Besides, the State Transport Corporations would also be asked to retrofit its buses with CNG connections.

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