NEW DELHI: After a gap of nearly a year and a half, the road diggers of Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) have started humming in areas of upscale South Delhi. In the next few months, a large part of South Delhi will have a network of gas pipes, which will make LPG cylinders seem a reality of distant past. Work had been held back in South Delhi as the government had barred IGL from undertaking any road digging work until the 2010 Commonwealth Games were over, said IGL officials.
An IGL spokesperson said final permissions for carrying out digging in South Delhi were given only in November 2011, after being further held up due to monsoons. “By March 2012, residents of Kalkaji DDA, Alaknanda, Chittaranjan Park, Defence Colony, whose D block already has piped gas services, Safdarjung Enclave, Greater Kailash, Neeto Baugh, Lajpat Nagar, Vikram Vihar, East of Kailash, select pockets of Saket can avail piped gas services. Other areas like Anand Niketan, Shanti Niketan, West End, IIT, NCERT, Kaushalya Park, Hauz Khas, Ayurvigyan were covered in 2010,” said an IGL spokesperson.
Even after pipelines are laid all over Delhi, LPG usage will not be eliminated. Only 60 per cent consumers accepted the piped gas connections in areas already covered, the rest deciding in favour of LPG because even after a pipeline is laid, every connection has to meet IGL safety parameters. Currently, domestic LPG costs roughly `30 per standard cubic metre (SCM) while piped natural gas (PNG) costs `34 per SCM. Even though the cost is similar, PNG is convenient as there are less chances of pilferage, no problem of ordering cylinders and waiting for supply, and the ability to track ones usage by meter.
“We’ve denied connections to many apartments in DDA colonies, as the safety would have been compromised. There are also huge number of unauthorised colonies in Delhi, which require extensive security checks before we can give a connection. If care is not taken of ventilation, safety, adequate space, then maintaining the pipeline network wouldn’t be possible. It may lead to disaster,” IGL officials said.
Moreover, tenants on rent don’t prefer PNG connections. Some simply like LPG, hence 100 per cent connectivity is not possible. Moreover, in an ever growing city state like Delhi with a land mass of over 1,400 square kilometres, extending the gas pipeline network is a continuous process. For example, the first network in Rohini was laid way back in 2004. Pipes are still being laid, as Rohini has expanded enormously in the last decade. Dwarka is now totally covered, as also areas like Janakpuri, Mayur Vihar, IP Extension, Shahdara, Dilshad Garden and Jhilmil.
Since there is no margin of error in piped gas supplies, IGL has established 24 control rooms across Delhi for round-the-clock assistance to repair leakage. Once a complaint is made to the call centre, IGL official rushes to the residence within 15 minutes.
There are other concerns, mostly among customers. Where will the gas come from? Will prices rise? IGL, aggressive in its expansion plans, boasts of 2.70 lakh domestic and more than 600 commercial consumers as on January 31. Even then, these numbers are in sharp contrast 49.85 lakh domestic and 0.31 lakh commercial consumers of LPG.
To meet needs of PNG for its constantly expanding network, IGL needs gas at reasonable prices. This has turned out to be their achilles heel. Supply from KG D6 fields, off the Andhra coast, stopped since September 2011.
In an interview, M Ravindran, MD, IGL, remarked that cost of sourcing gas is on the higher side, and as gas supply from KG-D6 is down to zero, IGL is forced to source expensive gas from the market.
The landed price of imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) bought by IGL, which is imported in ships to fill the shortfall in supply, is $17-18 per million metric British Thermal Unit (MMBTU). In comparison, ONGC’s APM gas is $5 per MMBTU, and KG D6 was around $5.50-6 per MMBTU.
“We’re in discussion with our promoters and other sources for cheaper gas. Overall, there’ll be an impact of this, as international prices have not fallen that much. Definitely, prices are on the higher side as of now,” said Ravindran.
After supplies hit an all time low in 2011, IGL revised prices of gas. In all likelihood, prices may go up again, as LNG is being imported at $18 per MMBTU to meet the shortfall until local production rises by 2014. “Revision of gas prices in an ongoing feature, it will be revised as and when necessary,” a company official said.