Roughly, 75 per cent of the population of Andhra Pradesh will have access to natural gas in the next two years, according to officials of Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB), which organised a roadshow to promote the tenth City Gas Distribution (CGD) bidding round, here on Wednesday.
During the roadshow, the officials said the tenth round envisaged covering 70 per cent of area in the State. So far, bidding covered East and West Godavari districts, Krishna, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam. The current round is for CGD bidding in Anantapur, Kadapa, Nellore and Chittoor.
The Government of India in consultation with the States and Union Territories concerned is keen on transporting gas – CNG and PNG through cascades for quick start of business. Gas pipeline operator will provide connectivity to CGD network within 180 to 270 days. The performance bank guarantee has been capped at Rs 50 crore.
Expressing concern over red-tapism hitting the schedules for providing piped gas to all domestic connections and CNG to all motorists within next two to three years, Rajya Sabha member T. Subbarami Reddy said once the round was completed, 3.7 crore households in the State would have piped gas. He said CGD networks by PNGRB should play a major role in providing clean, safe and environment-friendly fuel to the people of the country.
PNGRB Member (Legal) S.S. Chahar said that after the current bidding round, 10 out of 13 districts of AP would be covered with CGD network. PNGRB Deputy Advisor S.C. Gupta and Bhagyanagar Gas Ltd Managing Director S.V. Prasad also spoke.