Reliance, BP JV Bids for India CGD Licences: Report

India Gas Solutions (IGS), a 50-50 gas marketing joint venture between Reliance Industries and BP, has bid for licences to retail gas in 15 Indian cities, Press Trust of India reported July 10 citing unnamed sources.

In order to expand the area covered by the city gas distribution (CGD) network, India on May 8 kicked off its biggest bidding round. Once the ninth CGD bidding round is complete, almost half of India’s population will be covered, according to India’s oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan. India is rolling out networks in 86 new areas covering 174 districts. July 10 is the last date to submit bids and licences are expected to be allotted by October.

This will be the first time that IGS has bid for CGD licences. According to Press Trust of India, Indraprastha Gas (IGL) has put in bids for 13 cities. IGL is the main retailer of gas in Delhi. Essel Infraprojects has put in a total of seven bids. This round is likely to attract investments of rupees 700bn ($10bn), according to the downstream regulator Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB).

Following  the poor response to earlier rounds, PNGRB made some significant changes to the rules for licences and for retailing CNG.