Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) Chairman L Man Singh, on Wednesday, assured Chief Minister K Rosaiah that the supply of cooking gas through pipes would begin in the GHMC area positively in the next 2 months.
The piped cooking gas distribution will start from NALSAR Colony, Shamirpet, and will be extended to other parts of the city soon.
Rosaiah thanked Man Singh and the officials for all the support extended to Andhra Pradesh in honoring the requests.
The CM said that the PNGRB had been extending the fullest support to Andhra Pradesh in developing an Integrated Gas Grid. He also stated that the PNGRB accepted the state proposal for district as a unit in City Gas Distribution, and he was thankful that district-wise gas distribution plan was being laid.
The Chief Minister was happy that the PNGRB had recently notified 4 districts including Ranga Reddy, Medak, Nalgonda and Khammam for bidding to develop the City Gas Distribution network. Already, gas distribution for Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Kakinada and Rajahmundry has been awarded and the work was in progress, he stated. The APGIC will submit bids for the 4 districts, which have been recently notified.
Rosaiah said that the State government (Andhra Pradesh Gas Infrastructure Corporation) had requested the PNGRB to take up the trunk line between Kakinada and Kolkata so that the distribution network could be laid in the districts of Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam, as the Kakinada-Kolkata trunk line had not been taken up so far.
Rosaiah said that the state government (APGIC) would be approaching the PNGRB for City Gas Distribution network for the remaining districts, starting from West Godavari, Krishna, Warangal, Karimnagar, Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and East Godavari.
He added that gas distribution in districts south of the Krishna river is also being planned by the State, and shortly, Expression of Interest will be filed with the PNGRB.
The Chief Minister said a proposal for a regional grid for the entire State was under preparation and the APGIC would approach the PNGRB for bidding, shortly.
Rosaiah requested the PNGRB to extend the same support as before in future as well, in order to complete the plans that APGIC had prepared for gas distribution in Andhra Pradesh for sectors including domestic, industrial, transport, commercial, power and fertiliser plants.
The State government requested the PNGRB to complete all trunk lines passing through Andhra Pradesh, and wanted the Kakinada-Chennai trunk line to be taken up on priority basis as it would provide gas connectivity for all the districts of south coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema, as several industrial units are coming up in Chittoor, Tirupati and Nellore districts.
The Chief Minister was told that the bid process for the central India trunk line, which crosses the districts of Krishna, Khammam, Warangal, Karimnagar and Adilabad, was on. He said that the same should be finalised and awarded at the earliest, and that the trunk line connecting Chennai and Bengaluru should also be completed as it would cater to the requirements of Rayalaseema districts.
Rosaiah also thanked the PNGRB for all the support they had extended, and assured them that Andhra Pradesh would extend full cooperation in achieving the objectives of development of gas network in Andhra Pradesh.
Courtesy: INN