Gujarat, which accounts for more than one-third of the total natural gas consumed in the country, now also boasts of the highest number of CNG outlets in the country, having overtaken the National Capital recently.
Figures prepared by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas show that the total number of CNG stations in the country was 724 as of November-end. Of these, Gujarat had 258 CNG stations, the highest in the country. The number of CNG outlets in New Delhi stood at 239, followed by Maharashtra with 164 CNG stations.
The achievement is staggering considering the fact that City Gas Distribution (CGD) companies operating in Gujarat have little access to domestic gas and have to depend on imported and expensive R-LNG (Re-gasified Liquefied Natural Gas) to meet their requirements. The CGDs in Delhi and Maharashtra are supplied domestic gas. Among other states, UP had 28 CNG stations, followed by Andhra Pradesh with 14 outlets. MP had 11 such stations, while Haryana had six and Tripura two CNG stations.
State government officials said that barring Sabarmati Gas Limited and Gujarat Gas Company Limited, which get small quantities of domestically produced gas, the other five CGD operators, viz. GSPC Gas, Adani Gas, Charotar Gas Sahakari Mandali, HP Gas and VMC Gas have to depend entirely on imported gas. The domestic gas is priced at $ 4.2 per Million Metric British Thermal Unit (MMBTU) while LNG is priced upwards of % 16 per MMBTU.
"Gujarat is the leader not only in CNG stations, but also in PNG (Piped Natural Gas) connections and consumption.
This is a result of definitive planning for turning Gujarat into a gas-based economy," state energy minister, Saurabh Patel, told DNA. The minister said that Gujarat would have had even higher number of CNG outlets but for the strict regulatory mechanism.
Officials said that GSPC Gas, the retail arm of state-owned Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation, is the largest CGD operator in the country in terms of volume with daily sales of more than 4 million metric standard cubic metre per day (mmscmd). It operates around 120 CNG stations. Officials also informed out that Gujarat, with a 2,200-km gas grid, was way ahead of other states in gas supply network. They said that Gujarat had more than 75% share in industrial PNG connections. Of around 4,000 industrial PNG connections in the country, more than 3,100 are in the state.
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