Gujarat gets the biggest pie of natural gas allocation

According to a report by the ministry of petroleum and natural gas, Gujarat has been allocated the highest quantity of natural gas among the top 12 gas consuming states in the country.

The state, according to the report, stands first among the top seven natural gas producing states. The report also made a forecast that gas production in the state will go up significantly in the next two years.

While Gujarat has been allocated 26.86 million metric standard cubic metres per day (MMSCMD) of natural gas which include 8.24 MMSCMD for the power sector and 5.51 MMSCMD for the fertiliser industry, Uttar Pradesh has been allocated 19.79 MMSCMD of natural gas which include 8.80 MMSCMD for the fertiliser industry and 5.36 MMSCMD for the power sector.

While Gujarat consumes 3.11 MMSCMD for sponge iron industry, Uttar Pradesh consumes only 0.35 MMSCMD of natural gas for the same industry. Pondicherry is the lowest gas consuming state at 0.51 MMSCMD.

Haryana is allocated only 1.95 MMSCMD of gas against 9.34 MMSCMD of natural gas allocated for Assam and 4.59 MMSCMD allocated for Delhi.

Maharashtra has been allocated 16.60 MMSCMD of gas including 6 MMSCMD for the fertiliser sector and 5 MMSCMD for the power and sponge iron industry.

The total gas allocation is of 119 MMSCMD while the actual domestic production is only around 89 MMSCMD, leaving a gap of around 30 MMSCMD, the report indicated.

The power and fertiliser sectors are the major consumers of natural gas in India and have been allocated 70 per cent of the total gas supply.

"In case of domestic production of natural gas, Gujarat stands at the top in production as per the data of 2001-02, while Arunachal Pradesh produces the least. Significantly, while gas production in Gujarat has been showing a declining trend alongwith Assam, where Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC)'s most of the wells are located, gas production is showing an upward trend in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh and also in Tripura," said a ministry official.

Gujarat recorded 2,932 MMSCMD of production in 1996-97, it was 2,550 MMSCMD only by end of 2001-02. Its production recorded a peak performance of 3,166 MMSCMD during the year 1998-99.

Of the country's total onshore natural gas production of 7,234 MMSCMD, Gujarat contributed 2,550 MMSCMD of gas during 2001-02. ONGC wells contributed majorly "" 5,615 MMSCMD, while the rest came from Oil India Ltd (OIL).

Andhra Pradesh which produced 799 MMSCMD of gas during 1996-97, recorded a production of 1,797 MMSCMD by 2001-02 while Tamil Nadu which reported only 92 MMSCMD of gas production during 1996-97, started showing better production by recording 348 MMSCMD of gas by 2001-02.

Tripura also increased its production to 416 MMSCMD by March 2002 against a production of only 154 MMSCMD by end of 1996-97.