According to a PTI report, companies such as Adani Gas Ltd., Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., Torrent Gas Pvt. Ltd. and GAIL have made around 225 bids for city gas licences for 50 geographical areas by the time of closing of bidding.
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board announced that the investment of about Rs 50,000 crores would be infused in the cities offered for bidding for a licence to retail CNG to automobiles and piped cooking gas to households kitchens. The regulatory, however, did not disclosed the names of the bidders.
PNGRB in a statement said, “About 225 bids were received in respect of all the 50 geographical areas offered in the 10th City Gas Distribution bidding round. The technical bids would be opened between Feb. 7 and 9.” The cities such as Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh), Mysore (Karnataka), Ajmer (Rajasthan) and Howrah (West Bengal) were included in the offer.
According to the statement, the areas covered in the bidding included 124 districts (112 complete and 12 part) in 14 states and extends city gas coverage of 18 percent of India’s geographical area and 24 percent of its population.
The government is planning to increase the share of natural gas in the primary energy basket to from 6.2 percent to 15 percent over the course of few years. The bidding came closely after the ending of ninth round of bidding, which was the biggest ever city gas distribution licensing offer, where 86 permits for selling CNG and piped cooking in 174 districts in 22 states and UT were issued.
