Dr. Anil Kumar Jain, Chairperson, Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) and Shri AK Tiwari, Member, PNGRB met Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma, Chief Minister, Assam on Thursday at Guwahati. Chairperson briefed CM about the progress of Oil & Gas Infrastructure in the state of Assam and role that Assam is playing towards realising the Prime Ministers vision for creation of Gas based economy.
He highlighted important City Gas Distribution (CGD) issues and sought for assistance of State government in promoting natural gas.
Chairperson assured all possible efforts by PNGRB for rapid natural gas infrastructure growth in the State of Assam. He emphasised that rationalisation of Value Added Tax (VAT) on CNG & PNG along with mandates for conversion of public transport to CNG would encourage the use of natural gas in the State. Further, he suggested support from the Government for faster adoption of Domestic PNG connections by providing benefits in line with Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.
The Chief Minister assured all possible assistance for development of natural gas infrastructure. He believed that accelerated consumption of natural gas will also lead to increase in gas production from the gas fields in Assam which are presently underutilised.
On the sidelines of the meeting with the CM, Chairperson and Member, PNGRB also met Shri Paban Kumar Borthakur, IAS, Chief Secretary, Government of Assam and deliberated the issues of CGD and Natural Gas Pipeline (NGPL) entities in detail. The CS assured his full commitment towards growth of Natural Gas in the state.
