By IANS,
Lucknow : The Uttar Pradesh government Tuesday announced an ambitious plan to set up gas distribution networks across the state in order to ensure cheap and uninterrupted fuel supply to domestic, commercial and industrial sectors, an official said Tuesday.
Consultations have been initiated with the chairman of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB), and the state government is in the process of finalising an action plan to introduce City Gas Distribution (CGD) networks in districts in a phased manner, according to the official.
A high-level meeting was held here Tuesday between the Infrastructure and Industrial Development Commissioner (IIDC), Anil Kumar Gupta, and PNGRB Chairman S. Krishnan to discuss the issue.
CGD includes supply of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as auto fuel and Piped Natural Gas (PNG) for domestic, commercial and industrial use.
“State government is keen to usher in environmentally responsible and inclusive development in urban as well as rural areas, and this initiative to build effective and cheap fuel distribution infrastructure is an important step in this direction,” IIDC commissioner Gupta said.
CGD networks would be introduced in districts in a phased manner as per the demand and concentration of industries, he said.
Identification of districts, setting up of single window clearance system, nomination of project nodal officers, determination of geographical areas for CGD network, and rationalisation of tax structure were among the issues discussed during the meeting.
PNGRB Chairman Krishnan said that in view of the rising fuel prices and their paucity, natural gas holds the promise of ensuring energy security not only for domestic purposes but faced with scarcity of coal, power sector would also have to adopt natural gas as the primary fuel.
Krishnan pointed out that once the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) was shorn of high level of subsidy, pipelined natural gas would be cheaper and safer environmentally. The same stood true for auto-fuel in the form of compressed natural gas (CNG) in place of petrol and diesel, he added.
The PNGRB is the central regulatory body, empowered to authorise for setting up CDG infrastructure along with notification of regulations in this regard. CGD networks are already under implementation in 11 geographical areas in Uttar Pradesh: Lucknow, Kanpur, Firozabad, Meerut, Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad, Moradabad, Agra, Mathura and Khurja.