[ By Bobby Anthony ]The Supreme Court has upheld the Petroleum & Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB)'s authorization to the Ahmedabad-based Torrent Gas city gas distribution (CGD) player to lay CGD infrastructure in Tamil Nadu’s Chennia and Tiruvallur districts.The judgment came in the form of a dismissal of Adani Gas Limited's (AGL) appeal challenging such an authorization to Torrent...
The Supreme Court has upheld the Petroleum & Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB)'s authorization to the Ahmedabad-based Torrent Gas city gas distribution (CGD) player to lay CGD infrastructure in Tamil Nadu’s Chennia and Tiruvallur districts.
The judgment came in the form of a dismissal of Adani Gas Limited's (AGL) appeal challenging such an authorization to Torrent Gas.
It may be recalled that the PNGRB had authorized Torrent Gas to lay the CGD infrastructure to provide Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Piped Natural Gas (PNG) in the districts of Chennai and Tiruvallur, after an international competitive bidding process on September 7, 2018.
However, Adani Gas had challenged the PNGRB’s authorization on the ground that Torrent Gas’s bid was unreasonably high and hence PNGRB ought to have rejected its bid.
The Supreme Court held In its February 17, 2020 order that the power to determine reasonability of bids resides solely with the PNGRB by virtue of Clause 14.2 of the bid document.
Dismissing AGL's plea, the SC also held that the PNGRB’s determination on reasonability is neither arbitrary nor a violation of the principles of natural justice.
The SC judgment has paved the way CGD infrastructure to be laid by Torrent Gas in Chennai and Tiruvallur.