Coming soon: Piped gas to Chandigarh homes

Chandigarh and adjoining areas like Panchkula,Mohali,Baddi,Barotiwala,Nalagarh and Parwanoo will be covered under the second phase of the project.

Talking on the sidelines of a workshop at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Chandigarh,PNGRB chairperson L Mansingh said besides Chandigarh,six other cities will be covered under the project — Yanam,Rajahmundri (Andhra Pradesh),Jhansi,Ghaziabad,Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh) and Sehdol (Madhya Pradesh).

“Expression of Interest has been invited and we have received about 21 tenders so far,” Mansingh said. “The bidding is on June 25. Successful bidders will be granted authorisation within a month or so.”

“The Chandigarh region may be linked to the Dadri-Nangal pipeline (developed by GAIL),likely to be ready by October 2010,” he added. “It is mandatory for the successful bidder to supply gas to the ‘charge areas’ of a city. And in case of Chandigarh the ‘charge areas’ are Panchkula,Mohali,Parwanoo and the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh industrial belt.”

Meanwhile,in phase one of the project,successful bidders have been authorised to start work in six cities — Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh),Kota (Rajasthan),Dewas (Madhya Pradesh),Mathura,Meerut (Uttar Pradesh) and Sonepat (Haryana).

The Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) will take up the project in Meerut,Dewas,Sonepat and Kota,Bhagyanagar Gas in Kakinada and DSM Soumya Infrastructure in Mathura.