GSPC asks ministry, Bharat Petroleum to make Sabarmati Gas 'more active'

Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) has written to the Union ministry of petroleum and to Bharat Petroleum (BPC), its joint venture partner in Sabarmati Gas (SGL) to make the latter's management more active.

"The idea is to see that SGL operates at par with Gujarat Gas, the other CGD (city gas distribution) entity of the state government. We want that the operations of SGL be as aggressive as Gujarat Gas. The Centre and BPC have agreed and further deliberations are on," said Saurabh Patel, minister of energy and finance, Government of Gujarat.

J N Singh, additional chief secretary, finance, and managing director of GSPC, said the letter had been written with an intention to expedite expansion activity in the CGD business in the state.

While GSPC with its subsidiary, GSPL, holds 25.01 per cent stake in SGL, Bharat Petroleum holds another 25 per cent, with the rest held by institutional investors. SGL operates in the domestic, industrial and commercial gas segments through a piped natural gas network and compressed natural gas (CNG) outlets. The service area is the north Gujarat districts of Gandhinagar, Mehsana and Sabarkantha.

The state has plans to double the domestic gas consumer base from the current one million-plus consumers. The year will also see 45-50 CNG stations being added.

In the past five years, domestic gas consumers of SGL rose by 87 per cent, up from 46,128 in 2011 to 86,427; CNG stations increased from 16 to 38. For 2014-15, net sales were Rs 910 crore.

Apart from domestic gas consumers, SGL services 244 industrial and 471 commercial gas consumers in Gujarat.