Deora promises to look into SMEs’ gas woes

Union petroleum and natural gas minister, Murli Deora on Wednesday, assured to look into the gas supply related problems faced by textile units and other industries in Surat, even as he ruled out any reduction in fuel prices in the near future.

The assurance came in the wake of complaints regarding irregular and inadequate supply of gas to small & medium enterprises, during a 'Meet The People' programme organised by petroleum ministry at The Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SGCCI).

The SGCCI president Nilesh Mandlewala informed the minister that 450 textile processing units and other small & medium enterprises in Surat are facing acute shortage of gas due to inadequate supplies.

“The government has earmarked gas supplies from KG Basin for bigger companies, but SME units are deprived of the gas. In absence of domestic supplies, the SME units have to depend on imported gas which is 40 to 50% costlier," Mandlewala said during the programme, and urged that steps should be taken to supply adequate quantity of gas to SME units too.

Cutting short Mandlewala's speech, minister Deora said he would look into the issue and assured to resolve it within a month. The gas requirement of industries and domestic consumers in Surat is around 3 mmscd per day, while the current supply is around 2.12 mmscd, a shortfall of 30%.

"This is a problem we are facing since long and steps are needed to resolve it at the earliest," Pramod Chaudhary, president of South Gujarat Textile Processors Association.