Seven companies have put in 21 bids for licence to retail CNG to automobiles and piped cooking gas to households in five areas in states such as Uttar Pradesh and Bengal, oil regulator PNGRB said.

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) had offered five geographical areas, spread over 27 districts in five states, in the 11A city gas distribution (CGD) bid round.

Bids for the five geographical areas were received on April 6, PNGRB said in a statement.

“21 bids have been received from seven bidders with no single bid in any GA.”

It, however, did not identify the bidders.

A sixth geographical area of Yanam in Pondicherry has been added to the bid round and bids for this area are due on May 10, it added.

Bengal areas

In Bengal, Birbhum, Murishdabad, Malda and Dakshin Dinajpur districts have been clubbed into one geographical area.

The five geographical areas offered in the 11A bid round include Lakhimpur Kheri, Sitapur, Siddharth Nagar and Maharajganj districts of Uttar Pradesh rolled into one geographical area.

Banka in Bihar, and Dumka, Godda and Sahibganj districts of Jharkhand have been clubbed into one geographical area.

Chhattisgarh’s Koriya, Surajpur, Balrampur and Surguja districts have been clubbed into one geographical area, while Kondagaon, Bastar, Sukma, Narayanpur, Bijapur and Dantewada are under another area.

“Upon finalisation of the bids under this bidding round, approximately 88 per cent of the country’s area would be authorised for development of CGD Network to provide access to natural gas to approximately 98 per cent of the country’s population,” PNGRB added.