IOC, Adani, HPCL biggest bidders for city gas licences

New Delhi: State-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC) has emerged as the biggest bidder for city gas licences in the 10th bid round that also saw Adani Group, Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) and Indraprastha Gas Ltd as the other prominent bidders, according to oil regulator PNGRB.

IOC, the country's top oil refiner and fuel marketing company that is looking to diversify into natural gas distribution business big time, bid for licences to retail CNG to automobiles and piped natural gas to households in 35 out of the 50 cities put on offer for the 10th round and another seven in partnership with Adani Gas. 

Adani Gas bid for 19 cities on its own and seven in partnership with IOC, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) said after opening of bids between February 7 and 9. HPCL, a subsidiary of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), emerged as the third largest bidder, putting in bids for 24 towns and cities while Gujarat-based Torrent Gas applied for 20 areas. 

Indraprastha Gas Ltd, which retails CNG and piped cooking gas in the national capital, put in bids for 15 areas while Bharat Gas Resources Ltd, a subsidiary of state-owned Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL), bid for 14 cities. State-owned GAIL India Ltd, which is country's biggest gas marketer and transporting company, put in bids for just 10 areas through its subsidiary GAIL Gas Ltd.

In the last bid round, it had managed to bag just 5 out of the 86 Geographical Areas (GAs) put on offer. In the previous 9th round which was awarded just a few months back, Adani Gas had won city gas licences for 13 cities on its own and nine in a joint venture with IOC. 

IOC had won licences for seven cities on its own. Bharat Gas Resources Ltd had walked away with 11 cities while Torrent Gas had made 10 winning bids. Sholagasco Pvt Ltd bid for 9 out of the 50 GAs put on offer in the 10th round while Gujarat Gas bid for seven and Petronet LNG Ltd put in bids for five areas. 

Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) had at the close of bidding on February 5 stated about 225 bids were received for licence to retail CNG to automobiles and piped natural gas to households in 50 GAs offered in the 10th City Gas Distribution (CGD) bidding round. It had not revealed the names of the bidders then.