The Rs 1,750 crore City Gas Distribution (CGD) project was today launched in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.
The project was unveiled by Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, marking a big step towards fulfilling the dream of developing a gas-based economy and linking Eastern India to the Natural Gas Grid through Jagdishpur-Haldia and Bokaro-Dhamra Natural Gas Pipeline (JHBDPL).
The pipeline, popularly known as 'Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga', will pass through five states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal and the longest stretch - 762 km - will be built in Odisha.
The Minister also opened Odisha office of GAIL (India) Ltd which is implementing the pipeline and CGD project. In Odisha, 762 km pipeline will be constructed at an investment of Rs 4,000 crore covering 13 districts, said Pradhan.
The Bhubaneswar CGD project will be built with an expenditure of around Rs 1,000 crore. It will benefit over 25 lakh people in Khordha district and around 2.5 lakh households will be supplied with environment friendly, safe and economic piped natural gas (PNG), he said. Moreover, 24 CNG stations will be commissioned in 3 to 5 years to supply compressed natural gas (CNG) fuel to around 1 lakh vehicles.
In Cuttack CGD project, the capital expenditure will be around Rs 750 crore. Over 26 lakh people will be benefited by this while 2.5 lakh households will get PNG connection. In addition, CNG will be available to 50,000 vehicles through 20 CNG stations to be set up in next three to five years.
Natural Gas will also be available to industries and commercial outfits, creating a gas based industrial hub.
The 2,619 km JHBDPL project is being executed at an investment of Rs 12,940 crores. Natural Gas will be supplied to Fertilizer Sector, Power Sector, Refineries, Steel, CGD and other sectors through this pipeline.
With assured Gas supply, Fertilizer units at Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh), Barauni (Bihar) and Sindri (Jharkhand) have been approved for revival along the route of this pipeline. Continued full production from these major Plants will ensure timely availability of adequate fertilizers in eastern states which will go a long way in boosting agricultural sector.
GAIL has been entrusted with developing CGD network in seven cities enroute the pipeline - Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Varanasi, Patna, Jamshedpur, Kolkata and Ranchi.
Many dignitaries including MPs Prasanna Patasani and Bhartruhari Mahtab were present on the occasion.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)