Gujarat govt to finalise CNG Act

The government of Gujarat on Wednesday decided to constitute a working group comprising representatives of various departments to finalise the proposed CNG Act.

Though the government has taken several steps to encourage distribution and use of compressed natural gas in the state during the last few months, a policy framework is lacking.

The Act, which is expected to be tabled before the state assembly during the last quarter of the current fiscal year, will be the first such Act enacted by a state government in the country.

On Wednesday, a senior-level meeting in the form of workshop was organised by the department of energy and petrochemicals in the city to discuss various issues related to the final drafting of the Act.

The meeting, headed by the principal secretary of the department, Manjula Subramanium, was attended by various CNG kit manufacturers, automobile manufacturers and top state government officials including heads of state government enterprises in the oil and gas sector.

"Following today's workshop, we can say we have taken another important step in the process of finalising the Act. Mainly, the provisions of the new Act were discussed in the meeting. We are also trying to focus on issues involving various government departments including the transport department and the environment department. The meeting helped us elicit views on the subject," Subramanium said.

It has been decided that the group will have representatives from all the stakeholders like CNG transporters, distribution agencies, conversion kit suppliers and automobile manufacturers.

Based on the group's feedback, the state government will finally clear the Act which will incorporate the inputs from the group members.

"The proposed Act that Gujarat is working on will be a unique one and probably be a model Act for the other states. This is not only going to be an Act about CNG, but also for a cleaner environment," said K V Bhanujan, chairman of the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB), said.

A few months back, the state capital, Gandhinagar, was identified as the 'Greenest Capital' in the world by an international organisation.

Gujarat's business capital, Ahmedabad, has been identified as the 'most polluted city' in the country in a recent survey conducted by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).