Hyderabad, Dec 22 (IANS) Natural gas will be available to the common man in two years across the country, Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) chairman L. Mansingh said here Tuesday.
“Within two to two-and-half years, we want to complete the rollout of City Gas Distribution (CGD) network across the country,” Mansingh told a conference on natural gas organised by apex industy body Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

The board has identified 330 geographical areas (GAs) or cities with surrounding industries for gas distribution networks on the basis of the existing, under implementation and approved gas pipelines.

The PNGRB has already completed two rounds of bidding for these networks, and has received Expressions of Interest (EOIs) for five. It plans to complete the bidding process for seven to 10 such networks every month.

The networks are expected to supply gas to industry, compressed natural gas (CNG) to vehicles and cooking gas to every household.

Ruling out any role for the board in fixing the gas price, Mansingh said the board wants local entrepreneurs to jump in CGD networks as more competition would bring down the price.

“Natural gas will substitute the fuel which is costing more. Internationally, where no government is capable of controlling the prices, gas is 20 percent cheaper than crude,” he said.

Mansingh, who also reviewed the progress of CGD networks in Hyderabad, Vijayawada and Kakinada cities of Andhra Pradesh, said the gas would start flowing into these cities in three to six months.

Referring to huge discoveries of natural gas in Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin of Andhra Pradesh, Mansingh said the state was uniquely positioned to take advantage of the gas availability and become the eastern gas hub of India.

Stating that the gas would go where demand and infrastructure are, he remarked, “The natural gas sector is going to be bigger than the expansion in telecom sector in the last part of the previous century. If you miss the opportunity, you are going to miss the bus.”