The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said it has approved capital funding of Rs 5,176 crore to GAIL for development of 2539 km long Jagdishpur-Haidia and Bokaro-Dhamra gas pipeline project.
The approved fund will be 40% of the total capital cost of Rs 12,940 crore for the project.
Government of India has taken this historic decision to provide capital support for developing this gas pipeline which will connect eastern part of the country with National Gas Grid.
It will ensure the availability of natural gas to the industrial, commercial, domestic and transport sectors in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal, said the government.
This Capital Grant will encourage the supply of eco-friendly fuel at affordable tariffs to industries and will encourage industrial development in these states.
The CCEA further approved the simultaneous development of City Gas Distribution (CGD) networks in cities namely Varanasi, Patna, Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, Cuttack etc. en-route of JHBDPL project.
These distribution networks will be developed by GAIL in collaboration with the concerned State Governments.
It will bring clean cooking fuel at the door step of Domestic households as well as provide clean fuel to transport sector in the eastern region. About 1.25 crore population living in these cities will be directly benefitted by the establishment of these CGD networks.
All these projects will generate direct as well as indirect employment for about 21,000 people and will boost socio-economic development in the eastern part of the country.