Discovery of Market Price for Domestically Produced Natural Gas through e bidding

EXTRAORDINARY PART I—Section 1 PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY No. 309] NEW DELHI, MON DAY, DEC EMBER 18, 2023/AGRAHAYANA 27, 194 5 CG-DL-E-19122023-250733 CG-DL-E-19122023-250733 हस्ट्ताक्षर ______________ __________________ दिनााँक: ________________________________________ एिेंसी का नामिः _____________________________________ मुहरिः_______________________________________________ MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM AND NATU RAL GAS NOTIFICATION New Delhi, the 12th December, 2023 Discovery of Market Price for Domestically Produced Natural Gas through e -bidding No. Expl -15022 (13)/234/2019 -ONG -DV (P -32114).—In accordance with and in continuation of Gazette Notification No. 30 0 published on 16.10.2020 on “Natural Gas Marketing Reforms”, under reference of even number dated 15.10.2020 and 03.12.2020, the Government of India, hereby notifies the following process to discover market price for domestically produced Natural Gas: 1. This process document sets the procedure for sale of domestically produced natural gas by a Contractor through e -bidding as per provisions of contract and the Gazette Notification referred above. 2. The Contractor shall engage an Independent agency fr om the agencies empanelled by Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) as per the list at Annexure - I. Terms and conditions for empanelment of agencies is available at Appendix -I of Annexure - I. 3. The Contractor shall design the tender/ bid offer, inclu ding eligibility criteria, bid parameters, evaluation criteria, tender fee, salient terms and condition of Gas Sales Agreement and any other relevant information, etc., with a view to encourage wider participation from prospective buyers, promote competiti on and maximize the value of natural gas offered. 4. The Contractor shall ensure that at least 21 days’ clear time from the date of hosting of the link on DGH website is provided for submission of bids. Further, the Contractor shall ensure that all queri es/ clarifications raised by bidders are responded in a timely manner. 5. The Contractor shall invite bids from prospective buyers of natural gas through e -bidding portal widely publicized in at least one English language national daily newspaper and in at least one local language daily newspaper, website of DGH and websites of constituents of Contractor and other platforms including social media. 6. On completion of the bidding, the Contractor shall submit a bid closure report to DGH with details such as list of participants, list of qualified bidders, selected bidders with their price and quantity allocated etc. Further, a copy of all the Gas Sales Agreements (GSAs) executed between Contractor and buyers shall be submitted to DGH. 7. The Contractor shall be responsible for making payment of all fees and charges to the selected agency for conducting e -bidding process through a separate arrangement between contractor and the selected empaneled agency. 8. The entire proceeding will be conducted by the Contractor/producer without any need for approval of the Government. The Government, however, will have the right to ask for information and intervene if there are reasons to believe that there is foul play. 9. National Oil Companies viz., ONGC and OIL sh all also follow the above guidelines for discovery of market price of natural gas produced from their Nomination fields wherever pricing and marketing freedom has been granted. 10. All the issues pertaining to empanelment of the agencies for bidding proc ess shall be decided by DGH. Issues pertaining to the clarification on the policy of Gas Sale shall be decided by the Government. 11. The existing gas sales agreements, made in connection with contract provisions, would continue till duration of the agree ments/contracts and thereafter subsequent sale of gas shall be subject to these guidelines. All Contractors shall provide the copy of their existing gas sales agreements to DGH. SUNIL KUMAR , Jt. Secy. Enclosures: As Above. Annexure -I DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF HYDROCARBONS Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas No. DGH/ GPP/ EMP/ 2023/ ENQ -224 Date: 12th December, 2023 EMPANELMENT OF AGENCIES TO INDEPENDENTLY CARRY OUT AUCTIONS THROUGH ELECTRONIC PLATFORM FOR THE PRICE DISCOVERY OF NATURAL GAS PRODUCED IN INDIA Reference: 1. Bid response by M/s Yes Bank Limited consortium with M/s C1 India Private Limited against DGH NIO No. DGH/ GPP/ EMP/ 2023/ ENQ -224 for Empanelment of Agencies to I ndependently Carry Out Auctions through Electronic Platform for the Price Discovery of Natural Gas Produced in India ‘ 2. Bid response by M/s MSTC Limited against DGH NIO No. DGH/ GPP/ EMP/ 2023/ ENQ -224 for Empanelment of Agencies to Independently Ca rry Out Auctions through Electronic Platform for the Price Discovery of Natural Gas Produced in India 3. Bid response by M/s Indian Gas Exchange Limited consortium with M/s Indian Energy Exchange Limited against DGH NIO No. DGH/ GPP/ EMP/ 2023/ ENQ -224 for Empanelment of Agencies to Independently Carry Out Auctions through Electronic Platform for the Price Discovery of Natural Gas Produced in India 4. Bid response by M/s CRISIL Limited consortium with M/s E -Procurement Technologies Limited against DGH NIO No. DGH/ GPP/ EMP/ 2023/ ENQ -224 for Empanelment of Agencies to Independently Carry Out Auctions through Electronic Platform for the Price Discovery of Natural Gas Produced in India 5. Bid response by M/s Mjunction Services Limited against DGH NIO No. DGH/ GPP/ EMP/ 2023/ ENQ -224 for Empanelment of Agencies to Independently Carry Out Auctions through Electronic Platform for the Price Discovery of Natural Gas Produced in India Pursuant to acceptance of terms and conditions stipulated in NIO No. DGH/ GPP/ EMP/ 2023/ ENQ -224 dated 16.08.2023, the following Agencies are hereby empanelled to Independently Carry Out Auctions through Electronic Platform for the Price Discovery of Natural Gas Produced in India 1. M/s Yes Bank Limited [consortium with M/s C1 India Private Limited]. 2. M/s MSTC Limited 3. M/s Indian Gas Exchange Limited [consortium with M/s Indian Energy Exchange Limited] 4. M/s CRISIL Limited [consortium with M/s e -Procurement Technologies Limited] 5. M/s Mjunction Services Limited The terms and conditions of empanelment are indicated in Appendix I and shall remain applicable throughout the tenure of empanelment unless otherwise modified by DGH. Empanelled agencies are required to provide an undertaking for acceptance of term s and conditions and declaration regarding conflict of interest for conducting e -auction process as per format attached. All the empanelled agencies shall confirm their acceptance of terms and conditions within seven days from date of issue of this letter by submission of undertaking. For clarification on any issue regarding empanelment of agencies, communications may be made to DGH. Sd/- SACHIV KUMAR , Addl . Director General (Development) Issued to: 1. M/s Yes Bank Limited 2. M/s MSTC Limited 3. M/s Indian Gas Exchange Limited 4. M/s CRISIL Limited 5. M/s Mjunction Services Limited Appendix – I Terms and Conditions for Empanelment 1. Duration of the Empanelment: The duration of empanelment will be for an initial period of three (03) years from the date of notification of empanelment unless notified otherwise. 2. Fees and Payments: The Contractor (hereinafter called “Seller”) of natural gas shall pay all the fees/ charges to empanelled agency for its services rendered through a separate arrangement agreed between th e empaneled agency engaged by the Seller and the Seller. 3. Conflict of Interest: a) Empanelled agency shall provide professional, objective and impartial advice/ service at all times and hold the auction process in an independent, transparent and fair manner and in providing such services avoid conflict with any other assignment/ work and their own corporate interests. b) Empanelled agency, including their personnel and sub -consultants or any of their affiliates shall not engage in any activity th at may result in conflict of interest under this empanelment or that may place them in a position of being unable to carry out the auctions in an independent manner. c) Empanelled agency, including their personnel and sub -consultants or any of their affil iates shall not receive remuneration in any form from the Seller engaging it except the legitimate payments as consideration for the services provided, as per the agreement between the empanelled agency and the Seller. Empanelled agency is required to prov ide a declaration to DGH regarding any conflicting activities as per the above conditions for conflict of interest at the time of engagement by Seller of gas for conducting e -auction process. 4. Other Terms and Conditions: a) The empanelled agency , solely or all the members, in case of consortium, shall be jointly and severally responsible for conducting e -auction for price discovery of natural gas produced in India. b) The security standard of software solution to be used for e -bidding shall be d uly compliant with standards and guidelines prescribed by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity). In order to ensure secure and reliable e -auctions and system integrity of the e -bidding platform, the following shall be ensured: • The deployed system shall be tested for functionality, security, performance, etc. to ascertain correct implementation of developed software and system. The requirements of Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), issued vide Circular No. 29/09/09 dated 17th Septe mber 2009 and as amended from time to time, shall be verified during testing, pre -deployment stage and operation stages. • The source code and executable files shall be securely stored in Escrow before bidding starts and no modification of files be done later. • Hashes of all individual source code files and executable files shall be taken before the bidding and be shared to relevant stakeholders and be part of the audit trails/logs. • Mechanism to detect modification of source code during bidding sha ll be done automatically and also be sent to read only audit logs. c) The empanelled agency shall remain complied to ISO 27001 standards during the period of empanelment. d) The empanelled agency shall comply with the guidelines prescribed from time t o time by Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. e) In case any misleading/false declaration by empanelled agency, the agency shall be liable to be de - empanelled. f) DGH reserves the right to get the empanelled agency audited by an auditor/third par ty or any regulatory authority in connection with the e -auction services provided. The empanelled agency shall, whenever required by the auditors/third party/regulatory authority, furnish all relevant information, records/data to them. Where any deficiency is observed during such audit, the empanelled agency shall correct/resolve the same at the earliest and shall provide all necessary documents related to resolution thereof. g) The performance of the empanelled agency shall be monitored and reviewed peri odically by an independent oversight mechanism, devised and made available by DGH. Complaints/ grievances by the Seller or buyers of gas, if any, against the agency, will be routed through this mechanism. h) DGH reserves the right to modify terms and co nditions of the empanelment or cancel the empanelment, or to cancel or suspend the e -auction by the empanelled agency at any time, if in the opinion of the DGH, it is necessary or expedient to do so in public interest or interest of the security of the Sta te or for proper conduct of the e -auction. The decision of DGH shall be final and binding in this regard. i) All other terms and conditions specified under the NIO No.: DGH/ GPP/ EMP/ 2023/ ENQ -224 dated 16.08.2023, as agreed by empanelled agency, sha ll remain applicable and to be complied by the empanelled agency unless otherwise modified by DGH. Format for undertaking for acceptance of terms and conditions and declaration regarding conflict of interest for conducting e -auction process 1.0 We hereby acknowledge receipt of Notice of Award No DGH/ GPP/ EMP/ 2023/ ENQ -224 dated 16.08.2023 and confirm acceptance of terms and conditions for empanelment as mentioned in Appendix - I to the Notice of Award. 2.0 We also hereby confirm to submit de claration to DGH regarding any conflicting activities as per the conditions mentioned in Appendix -I regarding conflict of interest at the time of engagement by seller of gas for conducting e -auction process which are provided as under: a) Empanelled age ncy shall provide professional, objective and impartial advice/ service at all times and hold the auction process in an independent, transparent and fair manner and in providing such services avoid conflict with any other assignment/ work and their own cor porate interests. b) Empanelled agency, including their personnel and sub -consultants or any of their affiliates shall not engage in any activity that may result in conflict of interest under this empanelment or that may place them in a position of being unable to carry out the auctions in an independent manner. c) Empanelled agency, including their personnel and sub -consultants or any of their affiliates shall not receive remuneration in any form from the Seller engaging it except the legitimate payme nts as consideration for the services provided, as per the agreement between the empanelled agency and the Seller. Signature: _______________________________ Name of Authorized Signatory: ____________ Date: ______________ ____________________ Name of Agency: _________________________ Seal: ___________________________________ Uploaded by Dte. of Printing at Government of India Press, Ring Road, Mayapuri, New Delhi -110064 and Published by the Controller of Publications , Delhi -110054.