Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) organised a road-show for promoting 10th City Gas Distribution (CGD) bidding round at JehanNuma Palace Hotel, Bhopal on Thursday.
PNGRB is the nodal agency for facilitating economic activities in natural gas distribution with the objective to promote competitive markets, create infrastructure and increase share of natural gas in country’s energy mix PNGRB has successfully concluded 9 CGD Bidding Rounds for selection of authorised entities for development of CGD networks in their Geographical Areas (GAs).
The recently concluded 9th bidding round for 86 GAs covering 174 districts in 21 states/ UTs was a huge success attracting interest from investors in all offered GAs.
The 10th CGD Bidding Round offering 50 GAs was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 22, 2018 at VigyanBhawan, New Delhi. This roadshow is part of a series of roadshows being planned across India by PNGRB and witnessed participation from the senior Government officials, oil and gas companies, trade associations and industry.
Manu Srivastava, Principal Secretary, New and Renewable Energy Department, MD, MP Urja Vikas Nigam Limited, was the Chief Guest. Interestingly, Srivastava had a very remarkable stint with the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India. In his tenure, he dealt with natural gas activities such as pricing, allocations, distribution, transportation, City Gas Distribution projects and LNG.
The event was also marked by the presence of Rajeev Sharma, Secretary, Dept of Urban Development, Govt of Madhya Pradesh.
At present, CGD authorization has been given by PNGRB in 8 GAs in state of Madhya Pradesh covering Dewas, Dhar, Indore (including Ujjain City), Gwalior, Bhopal, Rajgarh, Guna, Rewa, Satna and Shahdol districts.
In the 10th CGD bidding round, 10 GAs covering 17 districts- Ashoknagar, Gwalior (Except areas already authorized), Sheopur, Morena, Raisen, Shajapur, Sehore, Shivpuri, Sidhi, Singrauli, Ujjain (Except areas already authorized), Dewas (Except areas already authorized), Indore (Except areas already authorized), Anuppur, Jhabua, Ratlam, Bhind, and Datiadistricts are being offered. After this round, around 50 per cent of the State will have access to Gas.
This is a huge initiative towards providing clean energy to the users of fuel in Madhya Pradesh. In the presentation on the 10th CGD bidding round, PNGRB highlighted the opportunities in the oil and gas sector in India and in the CGD business in particular. India's story in the natural gas sector, increasing domestic production and LNG imports to meet gas demand along with the country’s commitments at COP21, has pushed the Indian government to bring in sweeping policy changes that are giving a boost to the domestic gas market.
