Rs.41,000cr invested for the 12th CGD Bidding Round
Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas https://mopng.gov.in/en Hardeep Singh Puri said the government is set to invest US$67 billion in the natural gas sector in the next six years in order to provide natural gas to the end consumer at stable price.
Puri informed that the current measures planned by the government shall lead to three-fold increase in natural gas consumption i.e. 185 MMSCMD to 500 MMSCMD https://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/ by 2030 while promoting natural gas-based ancillary industries.
The Minister spoke on 4 Mar as he handed Letters of Intent to successful bidders of 12th CGD Bidding Round https://www.iea.org/ for their respective Geographical Areas.
The Minister acknowledged the efforts of MoPNG as well as Peroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) in building a robust oil and gas infrastructure.
He further stated that in the recent years, the government has supported promotion of natural gas in the country through policy and Regulatory framework.
“Subsequent to this round, authorization for development of City Gas Distribution Networks https://www.lngindustry.com/ in the entire country (except Islands) shall be awarded,” he said.
He estimated that Rs.41,000 crore invested for the 12th CGD Bidding Round.
Elaborating, the Minister said that in the 12th bidding round a total of 8 Geographical Areas were offered covering 6 North East States- Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland, Sikkim & Mizoram and 2 Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. This round in totality covered 103 Districts https://unfccc.int/.
Giving a snapshot of the Natural Gas infrastructure of the country, the Puri said that over 33,753-km of natural gas trunk pipelines are authorized in the country, out of which around 24,623-km of pipeline are currently operational.
There are 300 General Agents authorized in the country, covering 98% of the population and 88% of its area for development of CGD Network https://www.climatebonds.net/.
“1.21 crore domestic PNG connections and 6,258 CNG stations have been established in the country till date. All this has been possible due to the robust gas grid of India,” he said.
Addressing the gathering, Dr. Anil Kumar Jain, the Chairperson, articulated PNGRB’s current focus on creation of a vibrant and sustainable gas infrastructure across the entire country.
Development of North Eastern Gas Grid and Gurdaspur–Jammu Natural Gas Pipeline which have been authorized will play vital role for the development of natural gas network, he shared. Fiinews.com
