The government on Tuesday opened for bidding the biggest city gas distribution licensing round, offering 86 permits for selling CNG and piped cooking gas in 174 districts in 22 states and UTs. As many as 86 geographical areas (GAs), made by clubbing adjacent districts, are on offer in the 9th city gas distribution (CGD) bidding round, according to oil regulator Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB). The GAs cover 24% of the country area and 29% of its population, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said at a roadshow organised here to promote the round.The round is likely to attract an investment of Rs 70,000 crore, a PNGRB presentation made at the roadshow said. The last day for bidding is July 10. Pradhan said the government is targeting to raise share of natural gas in the primary energy basket to 15% from current 6%, in next few years. The CGD licences for Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, Ahmednagar in Maharashtra, Ludhiana and Jalandhar in Punjab, Barmer, Alwar and Kota in Rajasthan, Coimbatore and Salem in Tamil Nadu, Allahabad, Faizabad, Amethi and Rai Bareli in Uttar Pradesh, Dehradun in Uttarakhand and Burdwan in West Bengal are on offer. Prior to the 9th round, 91 GAs were awarded to firms like Indraprastha Gas Ltd and GAIL Gas Ltd, which are serving 240 million population, 42 lakh domestic consumers and 31 lakh CNG vehicles. Of these, 56 GAs were awarded through bidding rounds and the rest on government nomination. Bidders have been asked to quote the number of CNG stations to be set up and number of domestic cooking gas connections to be given in the first eight years of operation. In the new guidelines, maximum weightage of 50% has been given to the number of piped gas connections proposed in eight years from the