Consider the following statements: 1. Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) is the first regulatory body set up by the Government of India. 2. One of the tasks of PNGRB is to ensure competitive markets for gas. 3. Appeals against the decisions of PNGRB go before the Appellate Tribunals for Electricity. Which of the statements given above are correct?

Option (b) is correct because the PNGRB is legally mandated to ensure competitive markets for gas, and its decisions are appealed before the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) under Section 30 of the PNGRB Act, 2006. Statement 1 is false because PNGRB was established in 2006, long after other regulatory bodies like SEBI (1992) and TRAI (1997), which makes option (d) the most common incorrect choice. The core concept tested is the statutory framework, mandate, and institutional history of Indian regulatory authorities.