The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) is facing opposition from the key city gas distribution (CGD) entities regarding the proposed regulation for open access in the sector. According to these companies, the new regulation would greatly impact those who have already incurred huge investments in the sector.
PNGRB conducted an open house on November 2, 2020, inviting comments on the draft open access guidelines which aims to end exclusivity of supplier after five years of operations. The companies such as Torrent Gas Limited, Adani Gas Limited (AGL), GAIL Gas Limited, Gujarat Gas Limited, Mahanagar Gas Limited and Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) raised concerns regarding the proposal.
According to Torrent Gas, any infringement on the infrastructure exclusivity of an entity is not appropriate and will severally harm the interests of the CGD entities who are incurring huge investment on the infrastructure. The existing draft regulation shall lead to making the overall CGD development project as economically unviable for the authorised entity by making it the supplier of first and last resort for piped natural gas’ domestic segment only, as per the IGL. AGL stated that the draft access code will allow third party marketers and shippers to serve a very select customer type or population.