Lok Sabha Question No. 176 (STARRED), answered on 2016-11-28
Subject: Supply of Domestic Gas to All
Ministry: PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS
Asked by: DODDAALAHALLI KEMPEGOWDA SURESH, Richard Hay

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO. *176 (16 th  POSITION) TO BE ANSWERED ON 28 th  NOVEMBER, 2016

## SUPPLY OF DOMESTIC GAS TO ALL

## *176:  SHRI D.K. SURESH: PROF. RICHARD HAY:

## पेट्रोलियम और प्राक ृ लिक गैस मंत्री

## Will the Minister of PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS be pleased to state:

- (a)  the rise in price of gas being used for domestic purposes during the last three years and the current year, year-wise;
- (b) whether the Government has taken note of the difficulties being faced by domestic consumers due to hike in the price of natural gas;
- (c) if so, the details thereof and the steps taken by the Government to reduce the price of natural gas to make it affordable for the consumers; and
- (d)  the  concrete steps taken / being taken to introduce new scheme for supply of gas cylinders including portable to all families especially in rural and remote areas and encourage the use of natural gas for domestic purpose; and
- (e) whether the natural gas producing companies are making losses during the last three years and if  so,  the  details  thereof,  PSU  and  company-wise along with the reasons therefor  and the steps taken / being taken by the Government to increase their profitability?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) IN THE MINISTRY PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS (SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)

पेट्रोलियम और प्राक ृ लिक गैस मंत्रािय में राज्य मंत्री ( प्राार रन्त्िवत्र ( ) प्रााप्र ामेवध ीी ) OF

(a) to (e) A statement is laid on the table of the house.

## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (e)  OF  LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.  176  TO  BE  ANSWERED  ON  28.11.2016  REGARDING. SUPPLY OF DOMESTIC GAS TO ALL

- a) The domestic natural gas price notified by the Petroeum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) as per the New Domestic Natural Gas Pricing Guidelines, 2014 along with its applicability period is provided in the below mentioned table:

| Period                         |   Price in US$/MMBTU (GCV basis) |
|--------------------------------|----------------------------------|
| November, 2014 to March, 2015  |                             5.05 |
| April, 2015 to September, 2015 |                             4.66 |
| October, 2015 to March, 2016   |                             3.82 |
| April, 2016 to September, 2016 |                             3.06 |
| October, 2016 to March, 2017   |                             2.5  |

US$ 4.2/MMBTU on NCV (US$ 3.80/MMBTU on GCV) basis was the price of domestic natural gas before the notification of new price by PPAC in November, 2014 as per the New Domestic Natural Gas Pricing Guidelines, 2014. This price was applicable from June, 2010.

- (b) & (c) The table above indicates a consistent reduction of the price of natural gas since the notification of New Domestic Gas Pricing Guidelines, 2014.
- (d) Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) has been rolled out with an objective to  provide clean cooking fuel solution to poor households across the country.   Under PMUY, 5 crore LPG connections  to  women  belonging  to  the  Below  Poverty  Line  (BPL)  families  identified  through Socio-Economic Castes Census (SECC) are to be released over a period of three years starting from the Financial Year (FY) 2016-17.  As on 22.11.2016, out of nearly 1.10 crore connections released under PMUY, approximately 85% of the beneficiaries are from rural and remote areas.

Government is encouraging the use of Natural Gas for domestic purpose by making it available for  supply to households in the form of Piped Natual Gas (PNG) and transport segment in the form  of  Compressed  Natural  Gas  (CNG)  across  the  country  at  uniform  basis  to  all  City  Gas Distribution (CGD) networks.

- (e) The production costs of companies vary from field to field depending upon the area, logistics, complexity,  onland  or  offshore  etc.  ONGC  and  OIL  have  not  incurred  any  losses.  They  have posted  profits  in  their  accounts  for  last  several  years.    Profit  after  Tax  of  OIL  and  ONGC  are 2330.11 crore and 16003.6 crore respectively for 2015-16.  The profit earned during the last three years are as follows:

|      | (Rs.crore)   | (Rs.crore)   | (Rs.crore)   |
|------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
| Year | 2013-14      | 2014-15      | 2015-16      |
| ONGC | 22095        | 17733        | 16004        |
| OIL  | 2981         | 2510         | 2330         |

Regarding  the  private  companies,  as  per  audited  accounts  submitted  by  them,  they  have reported earning of profit petroleum  as per respective PSC applicable to the block/field

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