HYDERABAD - The national gas grid proposed in the union budget by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Monday triggered fears in the Andhra Pradesh industry that the gas found in the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin might go out of the state, starving the local units.

An industry leader urged the state government to ensure the requirements of the local industry were met while building a national gas grid.

The finance minister, in his budget speech, said the government proposed to develop a blueprint for long-distance gas highway leading to a national gas grid. “This would facilitate transportation of gas across the length and breadth of the country,” he said.

Y. Harish Chandra Prasad, chairman of the Andhra Pradesh chapter of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), said: “We might be starved of the gas found in the KG basin if this gas grid takes shape in next two to three years.

“As an industrialist and an infrastructure company in Andhra Pradesh, I feel that the state government should buck up and do something about this,” he told reporters reacting to the budget.

“We are not opposing the national gas grid but as far as the state industry is concerned we have to think about it. The demand for this gas is here but more demand may be elsewhere and thus the gas might go out. we have to watch out,” said Prasad, who heads Malaxmi Infra Ventures India Private Limited.

“Gas is very important for us. Coal is not very useful as energy. We have underground mining. Coal is going to be very costly here. So what we have is gas. We expected a lot to happen in the state from the gas,” he said.

He pointed out that even the sector wise allocation of gas was in the hands of the central government and the state had to meet requirements for power plants, fertiliser plants and transportation.