(FE)
Bringing natural gas under the ambit of goods and services tax (GST) will not only make transport of the fuel across the country more efficient but also facilitate setting up of the much discussed domestic gas trading hub, said industry players and analysts.Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced plans for expansion of the National Gas Grid to 27,000 km from the present 16,200 km and said that to deepen gas markets in India, more pricing reforms will be undertaken.
“For free movement of natural gas, be it a gas grid or trading hub, GST is essential. Pipelines reaching more areas is positive and more and more consumers will at least be closer to the gas. However, if they shift to using gas as a fuel for their industrial units, it will depend on the economics of fuel,” said a chief executive of a gas company on the condition of anonymity. “A gas trading hub can aid people buying the gas directly and sell it directly. Today gas is locked up in contracts and a trading hub will be a kind of a spot market, which will be good.”
