NE BUSINESS BUREAU
AHMEDABAD, JULY 25
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) has prepared a draft policy for city gas distribution (CGD), which, the government expects, will become a template for every state to come up with their own CGD policies. CGD network operators are seen to benefit from a sustained weakness in global spot LNG prices and an expected decline in domestic gas prices.
With the 9th & 10th bidding rounds for CGD licences, nearly 70 per cent of the country’s population has been covered. The PNGRB has proposed 44 new geographical areas for the upcoming 11th round of bidding for city gas distribution (CGD). The high rally in the prices of petrol and diesel has forced the consumers to switch over to CNG as its price has been much stable during & after the lockdown. Because of this factor, less than 20%industrial units are using diesel-based boilers & others have replaced diesel with environment-friendly CNG gas.
Seeing the potential of CGD in the country and to improve this infrastructure, city-based Rudra Gas Enterprise Pvt. Ltd. is planning to tap the equity market through an IPO to raise ₹100 crores, said a top official of the company.
Speaking to Navjeevan Express, Kashyap Patel, Director, Rudra Gas Enterprise Pvt. Ltd. said, “As India is moving towards a gas-based economy, automobile majors Maruti and Hyundai have predicted that the sales of CNG vehicles will increase many-fold. Further, in the last ten years, the price of CNG Gas remained 40-50% less compared with petrol & diesel prices and it provides better mileage.”
“The present share of gas in the energy basket of the country is 6.2%, and the government target is to take it to 15% by 2030. As of September 2019, there were 1,815 CNG stations and 54.2 lakh domestic connections across the country. Currently, about 76% of the compressed natural gas (CNG) stations and 80-90% of the PNG connections are concentrated in Delhi, Gujarat, and Maharashtra. And among the three states, Gujarat remains on top as more than 80% of the CGD companies and their associated contract partners are based here,” Kashyap Patel added, .
“The centre has started promoting battery operated electric vehicles which lack adequate infrastructure but CNG is the best option owing to its established infrastructure, Now the demand for the CNG market is booming. To take the benefit of it for expanding our horizon we are thinking of floating an SME IPO and also anticipating some venture capital will bring in an investment of more than Rs 100 crores capital,” said Kush Patel, director, Rudra Gas Enterprise Pvt. Ltd.
