Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) drops 7 out of 11 Cities for CNG retail licenses

India: Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) has dropped the CNG retail licenses for 7 cities such as Chennai, Bhubaneshwar in Odisha, Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, Coimbatore and Chennai in Tamil Nadu and Guwahati in Assam from the bidding round out of 11 due to non-connectivity with natural gas pipeline which results in inaccessibility of natural gas in those 7 cities due to lack of infrastructure. The cities which would remain in bid round are Jaipur and Udaipur in Rajasthan, Solapur in Maharashtra, Davanagari in Karnataka and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh.

TechSci Research depicts that expansion of compressed natural gas & piped natural gas would drive the demand for city gas distribution in India. The country’s CGD market offers huge growth opportunities as expansion of CGD network distribution in India is among the top-most priorities of Indian Government. As of 2015, the CGD market in India is dominated by transportation sector on account of increase in number of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles. Moreover, the Piped Natural Gas (PNG) segment is projected to grow at around 7% through 2030 due to anticipated advancements in City Gas Distribution (CGD) sector and increasing government focus to expand PNG network throughout the country in the coming years.         

According to a recent released report of TechSci Research, “India City Gas Distribution Market Forecast & Opportunities, 2030”, the City Gas Distribution (CGD) market in India increased exponentially at a CAGR of 21.44% during 2010-2014. During 2015-2030, the country’s CGD network is anticipated to witness robust growth on account of increasing number of vehicles coupled with rising population and growing urbanization in the country.