Guwahati: Purba Bharati Gas Private Limited (PBGPL) is a joint venture company formed in 2019 to supply domestic gas to households and compressed natural gas for vehicles. It is a joint venture of state PSU Assam Gas Company Limited (AGCL) and CPSU of Oil India Limited & GAIL Gas Limited.

In an exclusive interview with Business-Northeast, the Chief Executive Officer of PBGPL, Abhijit Baruah, talks about the prospects of the new entity, investments and revenue, among others.

BNE: Can you please tell us something about Purba Bharati Gas Private Limited? Why was this organisation selected to supply gas to ASTC buses?
CEO: PNGRB (Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board) launched the CGD bidding for different GAs. In the 9th CGD bidding, we have been successful to get two geographical areas (GA) — Kamrup and Kamrup Metropolitan, which we call GA-9.03, and Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj, which is GA-9.02. Afterwards, a joint venture company was incorporated, namely Purba Bharati Gas Private Limited (PBGPL). It is a PSU (Public Sector Undertaking) as Assam Gas Company is a Government of Assam PSU, whereas Oil India Limited and GAIL Gas are central PSUs. We have been entrusted with city gas distribution in five districts. City gas distribution is inclusive of supplying gas to domestic, industrial and commercial customers and also to the CNG business, for instance, supplying CNG to automobiles.

BNE: What will be the cost for constructing the gas booth?
CEO: We call it CNG gas station. Approximately, whatever the fund is, we have installed a CNG station at the ISBT location in Guwahati as a retail outlet of IOCL. It is called Swagat CNG Station. We will incur a cost of approximately Rs. 5 crore. An additional Rs. 2 crore will be spent by IOCL.

BNE: How much have you earned, or will earn, from this project?
CEO: We have a CAPEX (Capital Expenditure) planning of Rs. 2,600 crore for eight years. We hope that it will be recovered at the earliest. It is because with the selling of CNG and DPNG, we have very high expectation that Guwahati and all the districts will go for this new initiative of getting CNG. I can vouch for DPNG as everybody will benefit from the facility.

BNE: What is the revenue earned by the organisation on year-on-year basis?
CEO: In our Detailed Feasibility Report (DFR), it is anticipated that we will earn at the rate of 14% afterwards. As of now, (we are) in a nascent stage but hopeful that profit will go on increasing as expected.

BNE: What are the other activities of Purba Bharati Gas Private Limited?
CEO: As of now, as we have just started, we have not gone for diversification. We are concentrating on what has been mandated to us by the PNGRB. But it mainly comprises four sectors. One is DPNG, as I have already mentioned, that is Domestic Piped Natural Gas; then the commercial sector, industrial sector and also CNG. We will focus on them for another two to three years. When revenue generation will be substantial, we will definitely think of some other businesses like charging of electric vehicles.

BNE: What are the future projects?
CEO: As I said, in these four sectors, we will invest Rs. 1,334 crore in the five-year tenure. In the coming eight years, it will be Rs. 2,600 crore.

BNE: Where are the manufacturing units?
CEO: We have multiple equipment installed in CNG stations. These include compressors, cascades, dispensers and other fittings. Actually, it is manufactured outside Assam. We have purchased all the required equipment through bidding. The prime requirement is of gas (natural gas). This is compressed. Then it is called Compressed Natural Gas. CNG is collected from the Assam Gas Company Limited CNG station in Dibrugarh. In future, we are planning to collect CNG from Duliajan.
We had expected the Barauni-Guwahati pipeline to arrive in Guwahati by December 2021. But it is not commissioned yet. We are again expecting that it will be commissioned by June 2023. After that, gas will be locally available. As of now, we are collecting it from the CNG station of Assam Gas Company Limited that is 500 km away.

BNE: What is the maintenance cost?
CEO: It is because we have just started, and have not inaugurated it, so maintenance cost comes later on. But we have already placed purchase orders for compressor, cascade, etc, which are inclusive of maintenance cost. They will do regular maintenance as far as possible.

BNE:How many employees are there in the new company?
CEO: As of now, we have 25 employees, including contractual, advisory posts and also those in deputation. We do not have any permanent members in Purba Bharati Gas Private Limited. Only the company secretary has been appointed but he has not joined yet. But we have the plan. In three years, we will have 37 people on the rolls of PBGPL. Let me assure you that for other ancillary services there will be more employment opportunities.

BNE: How swift will be the transformation to CNG?
CEO: It is thought that Guwahati will be transformed within two years. People here will reap the benefit of CNG. We are sure that the transformation will happen.

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