All aboard for CGD in Nagaland
Hindustan Petroleum and Oil India's gas retail joint venture HPOIL Gas is wasting no time after winning Nagaland in the just-concluded CGD-XII round.
"We want to set up L-CNG stations in remote areas of Nagaland," says an HPOIL source. "But first, we need to know what is most beneficial for Nagland - L-CNG stations or a steel pipeline network."
To do this, HPOIL floated a tender to hire a consultant to help it prepare a DFR on the rollout of a gas retail network in Nagaland on March 11 (2024) with a March 27 (2024) bid deadline. Just this month, on March 4 (2024), HPOIL received PNGRB authorisation for Nagaland, which has a population of close to 2m.
HPOIL wants whoever wins to assess gas demand from households, businesses, factories and vehicles (CNG) in its Pre-Feasibility Report (PFR). Also wanted is a projection of future gas demand over the next 25 years and the best route for any proposed pipeline network.
During CGD-XII, Nagaland received bids from HPOIL, Tripura Natural Gas, IndianOil, and Bharat Petroleum. HPOIL won by committing to lay 189-inch km of steel pipelines, set up 63 CNG stations and connect 356,589 homes.
Along with other bidders, HPOIL paid a bid bond of Rs3cr ($362,000) and an application fee of Rs20 lakhs ($24,000). HPOIL also paid a Performance Bank Guarantee (PBG) of Rs25cr ($3m).
Incorporated on November 30 (2018), HPOIL operates in two other areas: Kolhapur in southern Maharashtra and Ambala-Kurukshetra in Haryana. When awarding the CGD-XII authorisations on March 4 (2024), oil minister Hardeep Puri said in a press release that the government aims to invest $67bn in the gas sector over the next six years, leading to "a three-fold increase in gas consumption from 185m cm/d to 500m cm/d by 2030."