In Brief
Adani Gas and IMC challenged the Board's award of City Gas Distribution (CGD) network authorisations in three geographical areas (Puducherry, Kanchipuram, and Chennai-Tiruvallur) to rival bidders. The appellants argued that the highest bidders had quoted unreasonably high domestic natural gas (PNG) connections exceeding 100% of 2011 Census household data, which the Board initially flagged but later accepted after hearing. The Supreme Court upheld the awards, holding that the CGD Regulations do not link PNG connection targets to Census data; the Board's internal guideline of a 2-100% range was not binding on bidders; and hearing only the highest bidders to justify their projections did not violate natural justice, as other bidders had no legal standing to challenge the highest bidder's reasonableness. The Board properly exercised its discretionary power to evaluate future household projections using various methodologies.
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