GAIL India Ltd said it has started supplying piped natural gas to the city of Bhubaneswar in Odisha.
The first phase has started with 255 houses in NALCO Nagar, and will soon be extended to nearby Jeevan Bima Colony and Maitri Vihar Colony covering a total of 1,000 houses, it said.
It also said it is carrying out an assessment for supplying gas to leading hotels, hospitals and industrial units of the city.
The city projects will also supply CNG. 25 CNG stations will be commissioned in the twin cities of Bhuabaneswar and Cuttack to supply compressed natural gas (CNG) fuel to Vehicles.
In Bhubaneswar, construction has started for CNG filling stations at Chandrasekharpur, Patia, Khandagiri and Famando, and supply will be commenced at the earliest, the company said.
PNG, or CNG in case of vehicles, is supposed to be safer than the current system of supplying LPG using cylinders.
The overall capital expenditure for the Bhubaneswar and Cuttack CGD projects will be Rs. 1,700 crores, of which Rs 400 crores will be spent in the next three to five years.
PIPELINE
City Gas Distribution projects in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack are supposed to be connected to the Jagdishpur – Haldia & Bokaro – Dhamra Natural Gas Pipeline (HBDPL).
However, the pipeline is not ready yet. As such, natural gas will reach Bhubaneswar in special containers called “Cascades’ which will be transported by road from Vijaywada in Andhra Pradesh.
The pipeline is presently under construction and likely to be completed by 2019, said GAIL, India’s largest pipeline operator.
The pipeline is part of a plan to link Eastern India to the country’s Natural Gas Grid, which is primarily focused on Western India right now.
The HBDPL will pass through five states, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal, with Odisha accounting for the longest stretch of 769 km.
In Odisha, the Natural Gas Pipeline will be constructed at an estimated investment of Rs 4,000 crores and have a length of about 769 km covering 13 districts.
GAIL (India) Limited is india’s No. 1 integrated Natural Gas company with a market share of over 75% in Natural Gas transmission.
It has over 11,000 Kms of Natural gas network and supplies sectors like power, fertilizer, industrial, automotive and residential.
Apart from natural gas transmission, distribution and processing, the Company has diversified business interests in Petrochemicals, LPG transmission, City gas projects and exploration and production.
It has a target of expanding its network to 18,000 km within 5 years.