ONI Bureau: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay foundation stone for City Gas Distribution (CGD) projects on November 22 in 63 Geographical Areas (GA)s across India, including seven GAs in Odisha.
The 7 GAs covering 17 districts i.e. Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Jajpur Kendujhar, Angul, Dhenkanal, Balasore, Bhadrak, Mayurbhanj, Bargarh, Debagarh, Sambalpur, Ganjam, Nayagarh, Puri, Jagatsinghpur & Kendrapara).
Jual Oram, Union Minister for Tribal Affairs will be the Chief Guest at Rourkela GA level functions. Likewise, Ram Kripal Yadav, MoS for Rural Development will attend the program as Chief Guest at Berhampur and Sudarshan Bhagat, MoS for Tribal Affairs will grace the occasion at Jajpur Road.
PNGRB has offered 86 new GAs covering 174 districts across the country in its 9th CGD Bidding Round, which is presently under way. The new GAs have an investment potential of Rs.2100 crore in next 5 years and expected to generate around 19800 direct employment for skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled categories in the State of Odisha.
The GAs awarded in Odisha at Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Jajpur, Keonjhar, Angul, Dhenkanal, Bargarh, Debgarh, Sambalpur districts to Bharat Gas Resources Limited with an approximate project cost in 8 years for 10 GAs is as thus for Jagatsinghpur & Kendrapara districts Rs. 174 crores, for Jajpur & Keonjhar districts Rs. 466 crores, for Angul & Dhenkanal districts Rs. 364 crores and for Bargarh, Debgarh & Sambalpur districts Rs. 248 crores respectively.
Subsequently Adani Gas Limited has bagged the award at Balasore, Bhadrak & Mayurbhanj districts for 20 CNG stations and 1,50,464 domestic connections over a span of 8 years with an total investment of Rs. 500 crores.
The GAs authorised to GAIL Gas Limited in Odisha are Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Ganjam, Nayagarh & Puri districts. For Sundargarh and Jharsuguda districts the total investment is Rs. 944 crores, The districts will have 20 CNG stations and approximately 1,00,000 households connected with Piped Natural Gas. For Ganjam, Nayagarh and Puri districts, the investment is Rs.728 crores, the district will have 15 CNG stations and approximately 51,000 households connected with Piped Natural Gas.
A City Gas Distribution (CGD) network is the interconnected network of pipelines for supply of gas to domestic, industrial or commercial premises and CNG stations situated in a specified Geographical Area (GA).
In order to promote the expansion of City Gas networks, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas has ensured that domestic gas, which is cheaper than imported gas, has been allocated to meet the entire requirement of PNG (Domestic) and CNG (Transport) segments of CGD sector and it has been kept under no cut category. Natural Gas is a clean fuel/green fuel as well as cheaper than conventional fuel, i.e., Coal, Petrol and Diesel.
Now, PNGRB is in the process of launching the 10th CGD Bidding Round in 50 GAs spread over 14 states, 123 districts and covering additional 24% of India’s population and 18% of India’s area.