The availability of natural gas will improve significantly by 2015 as the production will go up and four terminals will be established in the east and west by then for import, according to the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulator.
Meanwhile, due to shortage, power plants will continue to face difficulty.
The implementation deadline of piped gas network across 200 cities by 2015 is unlikely to be met due to gas shortage, lack of infrastructure, policy issues and pricing. The availability of gas is key to planning pipeline networks, said S. Krishnan, Chairperson of Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board.
Speaking on the sidelines of a FICCI event here, the regulator said, “There are clear signs at least four new terminals for liquefied natural gas will come up. They will enable setting up new pipeline networks in the country to evacuate and supply gas. It takes about 24-36 months for setting up a terminal and about 18 months for floating vessel-based terminal.”
The regulator said the gas shortage has impacted the domestic core power sector. “We are looking at a situation where the gas available will be supplied in a staggered manner to some power plants using pipelines as storage device.
“This will enable them to run at higher capacity when there is supply. While we are planning to come out with a mechanism for such sharing within six months as it involves tariffs, the process will go on till then,” he said.
Krishnan said, “It is proposed to increase the number of towns for city piped gas supply once there is adequate gas supply. This will call for fresh bids for gas supply networks, including for some of those cancelled.”
rishikumar.vundi@thehindu.co.in