CNG,piped natural gas network to cover 21 districts in UP

Krishnan also discussed the details of the city gas projects with Industrial Development Commissioner Anil Kumar Gupta.

“While we have prepared our proposed route to cover cities like Mirzapur,Varanasi,Jaunpur,Mau,Barabanki,Unnao,Shahjahanpur,Aligarh,Bulandshahr,etc., the regulatory board too would propose its own plan,” said Gupta.

At present,11 cities,including Lucknow,Kanpur,Firozabad,Meerut,NOIDA,Greater NOIDA,Ghaziabad,Moradabad,Agra,Mathura and Khurja,have city gas distribution network.

Sources said meetings with officials of GAIL and Indian Oil Ltd have already taken place and Krishnan would be soon meeting Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.

“Creating a gas network in a plain area like UP is a profitable venture for any company. There is already Green Gas Ltd,which is a joint venture of GAIL and Indian Oil,which is supplying compressed gas in Lucknow and Agra. Then Indraprastha Gas Ltd,a subsidiary of ONGC,has network in Noida,Greater Noida and Ghaziabad. Whereas Central UP Gas Ltd has network in cities like Lucknow,Kanpur,etc.,” informed a senior officer.

Petroleum and natural gas regulatory board is the central regulatory body that is empowered to authorise setting up of city gas distribution networks across the country. It regulates storage,transportation,distribution,marketing and sale of petroleum and natural gas.

“The final selection of the company for distribution is done on the basis of auction and that is how it would be done,” informed Gupta.