The city gas distribution network has received about 430 bids in 65 geographical areas, which is expected to result in investments worth Rs 80,000 crore, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board has said.

During the bidding for the 11th round of city gas distribution auction, the regulator said all the 65 geographical areas got multiple bids, which indicates growing competition in the clean energy fuel distribution business.

The geographical areas, which would be part of the bidding, were Purulia and Bankura districts, East Midnapore, West Midnapore and Jhargram districts and Alipurduar and Cooch Behar districts. The technical bids would be opened between December 17 and December 22, 2021, PNGRB said.

The 65 areas to be bid out in the 11th CGD bidding round include Jammu, Udhampur, Samba and Kathua districts in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Nizamabad in Telangana, the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu, East Midnapore in Bengal, Madurai in Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan’s Bikaner and Churu districts.

After the completion of the 11th CGD round, 96 per cent of India’s population and 86 per cent of its geographic area would be covered under the CGD network, petroleum and natural gas minister Hardeep Singh Puri had said.

In the 10th round, PNGRB had given away city gas distribution licences for 50 geographical areas. At present, there are 228 geographical areas authorised by PNGRB in 27 states and Union territories covering about 53 per cent of the country’s geography and 70 per cent of the population.

The regulator has authorised approximately 33,764 km Natural Gas Pipeline Network across the country with the aim to create a national gas grid and increase the availability of natural gas across the country. The country consumes around 145 million standard cubic metres a day (mmscmd) of gas.

Gas comprises about 6.2 per cent of India’s primary energy mix, far behind the global average of 24 per cent. The government plans to increase this share to 15 per cent by 2030.

India’s gas demand is expected to be driven by the fertiliser, power, city gas distribution and steel sectors.

India’s energy demand is expected to grow at 4.2% per year over the next 25 years.