Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) would soon open the technical bids submitted by oil and gas firms for launching city gas distribution (CGD) business in key cities.

After clearing the technical bids, the downstream regulator would open financial bids for the third round of auction of CGD rights. The board would first open technical bids for Asansol, Durgapur and Ludhiana, followed by price bids for all seven cities in June or July.

There has been a delay of three years in opening the bids for the third round of auction because of some alleged irregularities.

PNGRB received complaint from some bidders that a few companies deliberately suppressed key input costs to keep their overall capital costs competitive.

Low figures were indicated by bidders towards network rates and compression charges to score more in the bidding process.

In July 2010, 26 firms, including Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Adani Energy, Gujarat State Petroleum Corp, Engineers India and GAIL Gas, made 51 bids for the project.

Ludhiana had received the largest number of bids (16), followed by Jalandhar (12). While Kutch (east) received eight bids, Asansol-Durgapur received seven. Kutch (west) and Jamnagar district had received four and two bids, respectively.