With AG&P Pratham fast-tracking its project in Anantapur and Kadapa cities, the 24X7 piped compressed natural gas(CNG) supply for cooking and domestic use will be a reality by August in select towns/cities of Rayalaseema and that, at a much cheaper price compared to the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders.
The company that began its operations in June last year in the region is implementing a ₹400-crore project to provide the CNG supply to industries, automobiles, bulk users like hotels and domestic connections in erstwhile undivided Nellore, Chittoor, Kadapa and Anantapur.
AG&P Pratham assistant vice-president G.A. Venkatesh told The Hindu that the Singapore-headquartered company has a presence in 12 geographical locations/regions in the country beginning with Jodhpur in Rajasthan to several parts of Karnataka.
“The company has a target of providing 45,000 connections in Anantapur, Puttaparthi, Hindupur, and Kadapa and another 12,000 connections in Tirupati and Tirchanur in Chittoor district,” said Mr. Venkatesh and Sekhar Vajjala, the Chittoor Cluster Marketing Head. Currently, work on 900 connections has been completed.
In Anantapur, a 14.2 kg domestic LPG cylinder costs ₹1,066.50 while a similar weight of the CNG (methane) would cost a domestic customer ₹888.64 making it cheaper by ₹177.86. The first colonies to be covered under this project are Pilligundla colony on the city outskirts and Ramanjaneyapuram and Tilak Nagar in Kadapa.
For its operations in Anantapur, the company is laying a 100-km pipeline at a cost of ₹150 crore from Sira in Karnataka to Hindupur for which it had got permission in Andhra Pradesh, and was aiming at extending the pipeline by another 60 km to Penukonda to serve the KIA Motors India and its ancillary industries.
“Initially, we have targeted industries in Tumukunta near Hindupur for providing gas supply to diesel-using units and later reach other industries in the nearby APIIC layouts,” said the company’s regional head Venkatesh.
The other major consumer for the CNG was the automobile industry. Currently, about 100 vehicles are running on the gas in Anantapur and Kadapa and there are seven outlets - four in Anantapur district, three in Kadapa and it proposes to add seven more in Kadapa and five in Anantapur district during the current year. “Our target is to introduce 4,150 CNG vehicles in this region during current fiscal,” he added.
