IGL gets city gas licence for Hapur

Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL) has won a licence to retail CNG to automobiles and piped cooking gas to households in Hapur district in Uttar Pradesh, officials said.

The government had in June 2010 given IGL a city gas distribution licence for UP's Ghaziabad district. Hapur was at that time part of Ghaziabad district.

But a year later, Mayawati-led government in the state carved out Hapur as a new district. Since then, IGL had to confine its work to Ghaziabad district only.

Officials said the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) has now decided to give IGL the licence for Hapur as well.

"The decision has been taken and it will be out soon," a senior PNGRB official said.

Hapur is the smallest district of UP and is 60 kilometers from New Delhi. It comprises three tehsils Hapur, Garhmukteshwar and Dhaulana - and IGL will begin work soon after a formal order is issued.

Officials said Hapur has paper, textiles and steel tube industries which could be a major natural gas consumer.

With a modest beginning in 1998, IGL is now one of India's biggest city gas distribution (CGD) companies in the country.

It retails CNG to automobiles and piped cooking gas to kitchens in Delhi and adjoining cities of Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Shamli, Muzaffarnagar (in Uttar Pradesh), Gurugram, Karnal, and Rewari (in Haryana). State-owned GAIL (India) and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) are promoters of the company in which Delhi government is also a shareholder with 5 per cent stake.

The company has also received authorisation from PNGRB to set up CGD network in geographical areas of Kanpur (except areas already authorized), Hamirpur & Fatehpur districts, Kaithal district and Ajmer, Pali & Rajsamand districts.

The company has two associates which also operate as CGD companies. Central UP Gas Limited (CUGL) caters to the cities of Kanpur, Bareilly, Unnao and Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra Natural Gas Limited (MNGL) caters to the city of Pune and nearby areas of Pimpri, Chinchwad, Chakan, Talegaon and Hinjewadi in Maharashtra.

IGL has 500 CNG stations through which it retails gas to 10.7 lakh vehicles, with an average sale of 31.34 lakh kg per day in 2018-19, according to company's latest annual report.

Besides, it supplies piped natural gas to 11.02 lakh households and 4,276 commercial and industrial consumers.

It also has a pipeline infrastructure of 13,028-km within its CGD operations.

Officials said IGL was also recently permitted to take over the CGD activities in entire Gurugram district from Haryana City Gas Distribution Pvt Ltd.