The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) is seeking to declare more than 50 city gas distribution licensed areas, including Delhi, Mumbai and large parts of Gujarat, as common carriers. All the city gas areas identified for the purpose have already exceeded their exclusivity period. For cities like Delhi and Mumbai, the exclusivity period expired in 2012, while for many others it ended in the years up to 2021.
The downstream regulator’s move is likely to affect city gas distributors like Indraprastha Gas in Delhi, Mahanagar Gas in Mumbai and Gujarat Gas in several cities. Other distributors that will be affected by this include Gail Gas, Indian Oil-Adani Gas, Bhagyanagar Gas, Maharashtra Gas, Sabarmati Gas, Central UP Gas, Megha Engineering and Infra, Tripura Natural Gas Company, and Rajasthan State Gas. After the PNGRB declares a city gas area as a common carrier, the original licensee has to permit about 20 per cent or more of its network capacity for use by other suppliers.