Gujarat Gas Ltd (GGL) has earmarked Rs 1,200 crore as capital expenditure for financial year 2024-25. A large portion of this capex will be used to expand its pipeline network and to provide new piped natural gas connections to over 3.3 lakh households in six states, including Gujarat.
The city gas distribution (CGD) company is also looking to set up 200 CNG stations in at least four states in the next two years. “In the last financial year we had a capex of ₹900 crore. This year, we will be increasing it by over 33 per cent to ₹1,200 crore,” a Gujarat Gas official told businessline.
“We also plan to provide new connections to 3.3 lakh households this year. We have 36,000 km of pipeline and the majority of the investment will go into laying new steel pipelines across six states,” the official added. The new connections will come up in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Maharashtra (Vasai, Virar, Palghar). Each connection would cost around ₹15,000-25,000 in urban areas, and the CGD companies would take 12-15 years to recover the cost.
GGL is India’s largest CGD company, with 27 CGD licences in 44 districts in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. GGL is engaged in the marketing and distribution of natural gas (piped and compressed) and currently supplies PNG to industrial, commercial and domestic customers along with CNG to the transportation sector.
CNG Stations
Gujarat Gas is also looking to set up over 200 CNG stations, which will be fully dealer-owned and dealer-operated (DODO). “At present we have 850 operational CNG stations and we expect 200 stations to come up in the next two years,” the official said, adding that the company received over 600 applications for these stations. Of the 200 new CNG stations, 75 per cent are expected to be set up in Gujarat, while the remaining will be spread across Haryana, Rajasthan and Maharashtra.
GGL has a customer base of over 1.93 million domestic households, 14,522 commercial customers, 4,335 industrial units and 850 CNG stations. Of the total CNG stations, over 560 are located in Gujarat, while the remaining are outside the state.