Chandigarh, November 22: Housewives of Punjab’s six more districts — Mansa, Ferozepur, Faridkot, Muktsar, Hoshiarpur and Gurdaspur may soon get rid of uncertainties surrounding cooking gas supply as the Centre plans to invite bids for the construction of gas pipeline projects for more than 100 districts, including these towns, tomorrow.
The project, after commissioning, will reduce the fuel budget for the kitchen as piped natural gas (PNG) is about 20% cheaper than LPG supplied in cylinders. Besides, the move will bring in huge investments in these cities that would create additional employment opportunities, government officials said.
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) has already awarded city gas pipeline projects for Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Fatehgarh Sahib, Rupnagar, SAS Nagar, Bathinda, Patiala and Sangrur districts.
Besides PNG, the proposed pipelines would open up possibilities of cleaner fuel, the compressed natural gas (CNG), for automobiles.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to launch the 10th city gas distribution (CGD) bidding round in 50 geographical areas, covering 124 districts in 14 states tomorrow. The bids can be submitted by February 5, 2019. The technical bids would be opened by February 9 and the letters of intent (LoIs) will be issued by the end of the month, officials said.
Modi will also lay the foundation stone for CGD projects across 129 districts, including three in Punjab, namely SAS Nagar (except area already authorised), Patiala and Sangrur district to boost availability of gas supply. The projects in these three cities were recently awarded to Torrent Gas (P) Ltd during the ninth bidding round that took place in August this year.
In the ninth bidding round, Torrent gas had won the bid for SAS Nagar district (except areas already authorised), Patiala and Sangrur in Punjab. “We plan to make an investment of Rs 1,500 crore in order to release 5.20 lakh domestic PNG connections, set up 54 CNG stations and for laying steel pipe in Punjab over a period of eight years,” Torrent Gas vice-president (CGD business) Pankaj Kumar Pal said.
The natural gas can be used in CGD sector in four different segments such as compressed natural gas (CNG) predominantly used as auto fuel, piped natural gas (PNG) used in domestic households, commercial and industrial segments.
To facilitate the companies in setting up CGD in the state, the Punjab Cabinet also approved policy guidelines to facilitate laying of gas pipelines across the state in May this year. The policy was drafted by the local government department after examining the policy of Gujarat as suggested by the PNGRB and in consultation with the departments concerned. The slow progress in laying the underground pipes has been a major stumbling block in the completion of this project.
Source Tribune India
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