Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to lay foundation stone for City Gas Distribution projects in 63 Geographical Areas across India, including seven GAs in Odisha (covering 17 districts i.e. Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Jajpur Kendujhar, Angul, Dhenkanal, Balasore, Bhadrak, Mayurbhanj, Bargarh, Debagarh, Sambalpur, Ganjam, Nayagarh, Puri, Jagatsinghpur & Kendrapara), heralding the availability of convenient and environment-friendly natural gas for millions of residents through a live video streaming programme at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi in the presence of Hon’ble Minister of Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Environment, Forest & Climate Change Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan and other dignitaries on 22nd November 2018 at 4.00 PM, said senior officials from GAIL Gas Limited, Bharat Gas Resources Limited and Adani Gas Limited in a press meet held here today.
In GA level functions Sri Jual Oram Hon’ble Union Minister for Tribal Affairs, GoI will be the Chief Guest at Rourkela , Sri Ram Kripal Yadav , Minister of State for Rural Development GoI will attend the program as Chief Guest at Berhampur and Sri Sudarshan Bhagat Minister of State for Tribal Affairs, GoI will grace the occasion at Jajpur Road.
A City Gas Distribution (CGD) network is the interconnected network of pipelines for supply of gas to domestic, industrial or commercial premises and CNG stations situated in a specified Geographical Area (GA). In order to streamline the authorization process Central Government proposed to form a sectoral regulator, Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) which was constituted under PNGRB Act, 2006. Now, PNGRB develops the plans for development of CGD networks in the country, invites bids and grants the authorization for development of such CGD networks. The CGD entity is an interested entity authorized by PNGRB to carry out development of CGD networks. CGD sector has four distinct segments – (i) Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) predominantly used as auto-fuel (ii) Piped Natural Gas (PNG) used in domestic households (iii) Commercial and (iv) Industrial segments.
Hon’ble Prime Minister in Urja Sangam 2015 on 27.03.2015 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi mentioned as under “In the next four years, to increase Piped Line Gas Connection from 2.8 million connections to 10 million connections to reduce pollution in the cities”. In order to promote the expansion of City Gas networks, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas has ensured that domestic gas, which is cheaper than imported gas, has been allocated to meet the entire requirement of PNG (Domestic) and CNG (Transport) segments of CGD sector and it has been kept under no cut category. Natural Gas is a clean fuel/green fuel as well as cheaper than conventional fuel, i.e., Coal, Petrol and Diesel.
PNGRB has offered 86 new GAs covering 174 districts across the country in its 9th CGD Bidding Round, which is presently under way. A list of existing and awarded GAs in the State of Odisha is mentioned below. The new GAs have an investment potential of Rs.21 billion in next 5 years and expected to generate around 19800 direct employment for skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled categories in the State of Odisha
.
The GAs awarded in Odisha at Jagatsinghpur , Kendrapada, Jajpur, Keonjhar, Angul, Dhenkanal, Bargarh, Debgarh, Sambalpur districts to Bharat Gas Resources Limited with an approximate project cost in 8 years for 10 GAs is as thus for Jagatsinghpur & Kendrapara districts Rs. 1.74 billion, for Jajpur & Keonjhar districts Rs. 4.66 billion, for Angul & Dhenkanal districts Rs. 3.64 billion and for Bargarh, Debgarh & Sambalpur districts Rs. 2.48 billion respectively.
Subsequently Adani Gas Limited has bagged the award at Balasore, Bhadrak & Mayurbhanj districts for 20 CNG stations and 1,50,464 domestic connections over a span of 8 years with an total investment of Rs. 5 billion. The GAs authorised to GAIL Gas Limited in Odisha are Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Ganjam, Nayagarh & Puri districts. For Sundargarh and Jharsuguda districts the total investment is Rs. 9.44 billion, The districts will have 20 CNG stations and approximately 1,00,000 households connected with Piped Natural Gas. For Ganjam, Nayagarh and Puri districts, the investment is Rs.7.28 billion, the district will have 15 CNG stations and approximately 51,000 households connected with Piped Natural Gas.
Now, PNGRB is in the process of launching the 10th CGD Bidding Round in 50 GAs spread over 14 states, 123 districts and covering additional 24% of India’s population and 18% of India’s area.
