In Karnataka, the ratio of clean fuel to non-clean fuel usage is 55:45 and there is good scope for increasing usage of natural gas, said Dinesh K Sarraf, Chairperson, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB).

“In Karnataka, another potential area of natural gas usage is in public transport. If the State transport corporations switch to natural gas, they can achieve savings up to 37 per cent,” he added.

Scope in Karnataka

“In Delhi-NCR there are 37 lakh vehicles running on natural gas and in Gujarat there are 50 lakh vehicles. The same can be achieved in Bengaluru which has around 45 lakh vehicles,” he said.

In Bengaluru, the PNGRB held its 10th round of City Gas Distribution (CGD) bidding road show, to help interactions between interested stakeholders from the industry with senior State government officials.

About 15 Karnataka districts are to be covered under the City Gas Distribution (CGD) in the 10th round of bidding which is currently under way.

“Now after the 9th and 10th round of CGD bidding, all Karnataka districts (28) except Yadgir and Chikkaballapur will come under petroleum and natural gas as sources of energy,” said Sarraf.

“Bidding for the Karnataka districts has been good so far. We are in the final stages and results are to be out by the end of February,” he added.

In the 10th round of CGD bidding, which is currently on, in Karnataka there are six geographical areas (GAs) covering 15 districts – Kolar, Bagalkot, Koppal, Raichur, Hassan, Chikkamagaluru, Kodagu, Kalaburgi, Vijayapura, Mysuru, Mandya, Chamarajanagar, Uttar Kannada, Haveri and Shivamogga are being offered by the PNGRB.

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