The Hindu : National : Ministry overrules oil regulator

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Thursday, May 22, 2008
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National

Ministry overrules oil regulator

Sujay Mehdudia

NEW DELHI: The tussle between the Petroleum Ministry and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) took an interesting turn on Wednesday after the Ministry overruled and reversed the oil regulator’s order ‘derecognising City Gas Distribution and CNG projects’ planned and initiated by the Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) in the National Capital Region (NCR).

The Ministry, in its May 15 letter, stated that the regulator was not competent to judge entities formed by the government prior to its coming into existence.

This possibly has brought to an end the uncertainty over the IGL’s expansion plans into the NCR townships of Noida, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Delhi, which have been delayed for the past many months with the PNGRB asking the Ministry to submit fresh plans for approval and stop all incremental activities, including those connected with the Commonwealth Games 2010.

The Ministry said the Centre had 10 years ago authorised the IGL to carry out City Gas Distribution and CNG projects. “The PNGRB Act, 2006 does not prescribe any particular manner in which the government should have granted authorisation to any entity before the appointed day when the PNGRB came into existence,” the letter stated. The Ministry said the IGL had government authorisation and did not need to apply to the PNGRB for fresh authorisation.

What has surprised the Ministry was that the PNGRB did not take note of the fact that the IGL came into existence 10 years ago when the regulator was not set up and there was no format for authorisation from the government for beginning city gas distribution and CNG projects. The regulator had also not found the numerous letters from the government and the Supreme Court order for replacing diesel in public transport vehicles with CNG strong enough for the IGL beginning operations.

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