HC orders Centre to supply CNG under APM to Gujarat in a week

AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat High Court asked the secretary in the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) today, to appear before it next week in case of failure to work out a supply arrangement of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) to Gujarat at the same price as Delhi and Mumbai under the Administered Price Mechanism (APM).

The high court order came after consumers were not supplied cheaper CNG by the Centre even after an undertaking given to the court by the central government that it would do so by November 30.

The Gujarat government informed the court today that the Centre, through the Gas Authority of India Limited ( GAIL), had decided to pick Hazira-Suvali as the delivery point to supply CNG.

The state of Gujarat informed the court that it was not technically feasible to receive gas from this point, because gas supply pressure is as low as 35 to 45 bars there, adding that if Dahej, where the gas supply pressure is around 80 to 90 bars is made the delivery point, the state government could provide cheap gas to the people.

Since the Gujarat State Petronet Ltd's (GSPL) high pressure gas grid is not connected to the city gas distribution network at Hazira-Suvali, it would be impossible to receive gas from there, the state of Gujarat told the court.

However, counsel for the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) and the Centre sought time to work out the supply of gas from Dahej.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice J B Pardiwala asked the Centre to resolve the supply arrangement of gas from Dahej within a week and in case of failure to do so, it has asked the secretary in the MoPNG to appear before it on December 10, the next date of hearing.