Billionaire Gautam Adani’s group on Friday emerged as the biggest winner of gas retailing licences, winning rights to sell CNG in 11 cities, including Allahabad.
Adani won the rights to retail CNG to automobiles and piped cooking gas to households in six cities on its own and another five in joint ventures with state-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC), according to results of the 48 of the 86 cities that were bid in the country’s biggest city gas distribution (CGD) bid round.
According to the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board, IOC, on its own, won rights to four cities.
Bharat Gas Resources Ltd., a unit of state-owned Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd. (BPCL), won a licence each for six cities, the same number for which Torrent Gas Pvt. Ltd. too made winning bids.
State gas utility GAIL’s retailing arm, GAIL Gas, managed to get rights for three cities. When the bid round closed last month, IOC, BPCL and Adani Gas Ltd. were the top bidders.
IOC bids for 34 cities
Of the 86 cities offered for retailing of CNG to automobiles and piped cooking gas to households in the ninth CGD bid round, IOC bid for 34 cities on its own and another 20 in partnership with Adani Gas Ltd. Adani Gas on its own bid for 32 cities.
Bharat Gas Resources Ltd. bid for as many as 53 cities while GAIL Gas Ltd. put in offers for 34 cities.
Gujarat-based Torrent Gas Pvt Ltd bid for 31 cities while Gujarat Gas Ltd put in offers for 21 areas.
