India to Launch 11th City Gas Licensing Round
After successfully conducting the 9th and the 10th city gas licensing rounds, India is expected to launch the 11th round soon, country’s petroleum and natural gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on September 10 during an event to launch CNG stations across the country.
During the event Pradhan inaugurated 56 CNG stations in 13 states and one union territory. The number of CNG stations has risen from 947 to over 2,300 over the last six years, the minister said. Over 400 districts of the country are now covered by the city gas distribution network (CGD), he added.
“The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) is preparing to come out with 11th round of CGD bidding round, after which 50-100 additional districts will get the clean fuel,” Pradhan said.
PNGRB, the downstream regulator, launched its 9th bidding round for the development of further city gas networks across India in 2018. This round included 80 geographical areas (GAs) awarded to 19 commercial entities. In addition, during the first quarter of 2019, PNGRB concluded the 10th bidding round and awarded an additional 50 GAs across the country.
Pradhan said that India is moving towards becoming a gas-based economy. In order to fight chronic air pollution, the Indian government is promoting the use of clean fuels like natural gas. It wants to raise the share of gas in the energy mix from 6-7% to 15% by 2030.