By: Arunima LalPATNA: Deputy chief minister (CM) Sushil Kumar Modi (SuMo) on Thursday said supply of piped cooking gas to city households would begin from February.In his keynote speech at the 10th City Gas Distribution (CGD) bidding organized by Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) at a hotel on Thursday, SuMo claimed approximately 5,500 households in the city had already been connected with piped natural gas (PNG) infrastructure under the Jagdishpur-Haldia and Bokaro-Dhamra pipeline projects.“The supply of piped cooking gas to houses in Patna will start from February. The state government has provided a 1.5 acre land worth Rs 100 crore for Rs 48 crore for setting up a CNG station at Phulwarisharif. Three CNG stations will be set up in Patna by March and four others in 2019-20,” SuMo said and added at least 50,000 households in the city were targeted to be connected with the PNG network over the next five years.PNG is safe, convenient, environment-friendly and economically cheaper in comparison to other conventional fuels. Deliberating on other incentives for PNG and CNG, the deputy CM said, “Amendment will be brought in building bylaws for ensuring installation of pipes for PNG at the time of construction of multi- storey apartments. The government may also provide rebate in registration fees for vehicles running on CNG.”Meanwhile, PNGRB, the nodal agency for facilitating economic activities in natural gas distribution, organized a roadshow in Patna on Thursday to promote the 10th phase of bidding process of CGD network in the country. This one is the second in a series of roadshows being held across India by the PNGRB, ahead of the bidding process on February 5.“At present, CGD authorization has been given by the PNGRB in seven districts of Bihar. At least 21 more districts will be added to the network under the 10th bidding phase. After the 10th round, 28 of 38 districts in the state will be fully authorized for the development of CGD network. This is a remarkable feat in the field of natural gas distribution in Bihar ,” said a GAIL official.According to the Urja Ganga Gas Pipeline Project of the Union ministry of petroleum and natural gas, which was inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi in July 2015, six cities — Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh), Bhubaneswar and Cuttack (Odisha), Patna (Bihar), Ranchi and Jamshedpur (Jharkhand) — will be covered with piped cooking gas supply network. While the supply has been started in Varanasi, Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, the three remaining cities are targeted to be covered before March.