Gail Starts City Gas Project in East India
Indian state-owned Gail November 1 announced the start of city gas distribution (CGD) project in Jamshedpur, a major city in the east Indian state of Jharkhand.
India’s oil and natural gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated the supply of domestic piped natural gas (PNG) and inaugurated compressed natural gas (CNG) station in the city, in the presence of state officials, Gail said in a statement.
During the event, work for laying a 125-km spur pipeline from Purulia to Jamshedpur also started. This will feed CGD networks of East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum and Seraikela-Kharsawan geographical areas. Total Area of Jamshedpur CGD project is around 3,562 km2.
Initially, natural gas will reach Jamshedpur in special containers called cascades, which will be transported by road from Patna, Bihar. Later, gas will be supplied through the Jagdishpur – Haldia & Bokaro – Dhamra Natural Gas Pipeline (JHBDPL), also known as the Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga. The pipeline is presently under construction and likely to be completed by 2020, Gail said. The 2,650-km Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga, will pass through the eastern Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal & Odisha. The pipeline is being further extended from Barauni to Guwahati in the northeastern state of Assam through a 729-km pipeline.
Under the Jamshedpur CGD project more than 100,000 households, 125 commercial entities, 85 industrial unit and CNG vehicles will be supplied with gas, Gail said. In coming years, 22 CNG stations will be commissioned in Jharkhand including 11 in Jamshedpur. Earlier this year, Gail commissioned the CGD project in Ranchi, which is the capital of Jharkhand.
CGD projects in Ranchi and Jamshedpur are being taken up in parallel with the Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga pipeline. The overall capital expenditure for the Ranchi and Jamshedpur CGD projects will be rupees 15bn ($210mn) of which rupees 4.5bn will be spent in the next three to five years, Gail said.