JOIN USParts of B'luru north may get piped gas by year-end
The long-awaited City Gas Distribution (CGD) project will soon be a reality in Bengaluru Urban and Rural districts.
GAIL Gas Ltd, which recently bagged the contract from the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB), plans to commence the project in May in Bengaluru City. The work is likely to start in northern Bengaluru areas whose residents may get piped gas supply either by end of this year or the beginning of next year, if everything goes as per the plan. The project will be extended to other parts of Bengaluru Urban and Rural districts in a phased manner, GAIL Gas general manager (projects) Partha Jana said.
“We are holding discussions with the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) and the government on the project implementation.
“Simultaneously, we are conducting a survey, preparing the design of the pipeline and finalising the routes. Commencement of the project depends on various permissions to be obtained from the government and its agencies,” he said.
GAIL Gas Ltd is a subsidiary of Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL), which is a Central public sector undertaking. The contract has been awarded for establishing and maintaining CGD network covering about 263 km of pipeline in the two districts for the next 25 years, including supply of piped gas to all households; and five years of exclusive marketing rights. The company has received the authorisation letter to implement the project from the PNGRB on February 19, 2015.
As per the minimum work programme calendar drawn up by the PNGRB, GAIL Gas Ltd has to cover five per cent of the total estimated households within five years of commencement of the project. Bengaluru Urban and Bengaluru Rural districts have an estimated 20 lakh households. Either medium-density polyethylene pipes or steel pipes will be used under the project, the sources said.
GAIL Gas Ltd has sought permission from the BBMP to lay pipelines, while the BDA has been requested to provide plots along the outer ring road for setting up CNG (compressed natural gas) stations. The company has urged the government to waive five per cent entry tax and 14.5 per cent VAT imposed on petroleum products in the State. The company is yet to receive a response, the sources said.
Tax exemption, if provided, will ensure availability of both CNG and piped natural gas (PNG) at a cheaper price to consumers. The price of gas for consumers will be determined by various factors, including the basic price of gas, transportation cost, capital cost of laying the pipeline and local taxes. If local taxes are exempted, the gas price is likely to come down by about Rs 5.70 per kg. (a kg of CNG is equal to 1.2 litres of diesel and a kg of PNG is equal to 1.4 litres of petrol).
PNG is supplied to households for cooking purpose, while CNG will be supplied to vehicles and industrial purposes, official sources in GAIL said. BBMP Commissioner M Lakshminarayana told this newspaper that the Palike was examining GAIL Gas Ltd’s request for permission. The company wants to lay pipeline and an optic fibre cable along it. An appropriate decision will be taken soon after consulting the government, he said.