The Charotar Gas Sahakari Mandali Ltd (CGSML), the first-of-its-kind cooperative sector initiative, has signed an agreement with the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) to set up a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) filling station near Chikodhra crossing with an investment of Rs 10 crore.

After supplying piped natural gas in Anand, the cooperative is now moving into CNG supply business. In the next one year, Charotar gas will set up three gas filling stations. After Chikodhra, it will be the turn of Borsad town and then Khambhat.

Chikodhra gas filling station will be the first gas filling station between Ahmedabad and Vadodara and will be located on the highway. The GSPC will be investing Rs 4 crore in it. Their first gas station is located in Vallabh Vidyanagar.

The Charotar Gas being a cooperative venture has a competitive edge. For instance, the CNG supplied by the Charotar Gas is much cheaper than private players like Adanis. While Charotar gas charges Rs 28 per kg, Adanis and other private players charge above Rs 30. "Being a cooperative, we don't have to pay VAT. This makes us more economical. Our motto is to provide fuel for auto rickshaws and buses at the cheapest price possible," said Kiran Patel, chairman of CGSML.

The Chikodhra station will help the buses and cars to get CNG on the NH 8. Alabhai Parmar, MD, Charotar Gas, said: "CNG cars and buses plying between Vadodara and Mumbai had to enter Anand or Nadiad to fill in CNG. This CNG station will help them get CNG on the highway itself."

The cooperative was set up in 1999 and has been supplying gas from a private field in Bavla near Ahmedabad. It has acquired the gas distribution rights for Anand, Ahmedabad and Kheda districts of Gujarat. The cooperative has more than 1,800 members and it works on the Amul model. Till now, the cooperative has laid around 100 km of the pipeline in and around Anand.

Now, the Charotar gas has signed an agreement with the cooperative giant Amul to supply gas to Amul chocolate plant. The 15-km pipeline will be laid in the next two months between Gaana village and Chikodhra towards Mogr village near Vasad, where the chocolate plant is located.

Patel, who is also one of the independent directors of Charotar Gas said: “Amul has been our client. But they have asked for another 25,000 standard cubic metre of gas per day for their chocolate plant. That's why we have decided to lay a pipeline especially for them.” Amul will invest Rs 3 crore in the project, which will be in the form of interest free loan to the Charotar Gas. The gas supplied to Amul will be 30 per cent of the total sales of Charotar gas. The gas will be sourced from GSPC. Earlier, Amul use to get gas from GAIL.