Sabarmati Gas on a mission to expand - fast!
In the past Gujarat-based gas retailer Sabarmati Gas has faced criticism for slow growth but now it's racing ahead with the expansion of its north Gujarat gas retail business.
And Narendra Modi's birthplace Vadnagar in Mehsana district will be one of the places to benefit. Sabarmati is gearing up to spend as much as Rs100cr ($15m) CAPEX in 2017-18 to grow its gas network - more than double the Rs42cr ($6.5m) spent this fiscal.
In focus are plans to lay 75-km steel pipeline across its established territories of Mehsana, Sabarmati and Gandhinagar in addition to the 5846-sq km Patan area for which it won a PNGRB licence on May 27, 2016. As much as 50% of this pipeline network will be built in Patan - known for its fine hand-woven saris.
Sabarmati also aims to lay about 700-km plastic pipeline of which 40% will lie in Patan with the rest shared equally across Mehsana, Sabarmati and Gandhinagar. Four new CNG stations are planned in each of the four areas, adding 16 in total to 57 it already operates.
Sabarmati wants to connect 25,000 homes this year to its piped gas network, on top of the 112,000 homes already receiving supplies. In particular it aims to connect far-flung agricultural town Vadali and Prantij city in Sabarkantha district, temple town Bechraji and Mandali village in Mehsana district, plus industrial clusters in Patan and Sidhpur towns.