Torrent Gas re-starts work in most of its areas

Vol 23, PW 15 (04 Jun 20) Midstream & Downstream

Torrent owner Sudhir Mehta's son Jinal Mehta undoubtedly made an impact.

This report learns the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) has streamlined the approval process for newly constructed CNG stations, allowing them to begin selling gas pending formal approval within three months. Torrent Power managing director Jinal Mehta made this suggestion during an April 16 video conference with oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan and other CGD operators.

As a result, Torrent Gas has commissioned ten new CNG stations since May 17: two in Sangareddy in Telangana; two in Junagadh in Gujarat; two in Kota in Rajasthan and one each in Kanpur Dehat, Mau, Basti and Gorakhpur, all in Uttar Pradesh. "Our focus was to restart or commission as many CNG stations as possible," says a well-placed source, "to generate revenue right away."

Torrent resumed setting up retail gas networks in seven states and one union territory soon after the government announced its latest lockdown relaxations, effective from early May. These are Telangana, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Puducherry.

Torrent is also completing City Gate Stations (CGS) at nine locations: one at Sangareddy in Telangana; three at Pune in Maharashtra; one at Kota in Rajasthan; one at Patiala in Punjab; and one each in Gorakhpur, Kanpur and Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh. "These stations are at the heart of any CGD network just as steel pipelines are its arteries," comments our source.

Before the lockdown, Torrent had approximately 1400 manual workers deployed at the nine CGS sites. By the end of May, roughly 70% of them had resumed work. Most of them stayed on location at their worksites during the lockdown, unable to move out. Torrent is unsure how many of these workers will stay and how many will return to their home states now that the government has partially restored inter-state transport. "This is our biggest challenge just like other CGD operators," we hear. Torrent is also dealing with delayed clearances for work from central, state and local authorities. "Many government offices have either not restarted or are understaffed," we hear. Like other operators, Torrent has not begun connecting homes to piped gas because it anticipates families will forbid workers from entering their homes. "We are trying to gauge the moods of consumers before providing connections," we hear. Torrent won ten areas in CGD-IX and three in CGD-X. It took over the Pune rural area from Mahesh Resources in 2018 and took over Moradabad from Siti Energy in June 2019.

Torrent Gas re-starts work in most of its areas

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