Gail Starts Major East India City Gas Project
Gail August 23 announced the start of city gas distribution (CGD) project in Ranchi, a major city in east India and capital of the state of Jharkhand.
State-run Gail will supply CNG to vehicles and supply piped natural gas (PNG) to households and industrial units. Gail is implementing the CGD network in Ranchi and Jamshedpur, another important city in Jharkhand.
Officials from Gail and ministers from state and central governments inaugurated CNG stations in Madhuvan Vihar and Khukari in Ranchi and launched the supply of PNG to domestic consumers in Shayamali Colony, Gail said.
The company said it expects to commission 11 CNG stations in Ranchi in coming years. Initially, natural gas will reach Ranchi in special containers called ‘cascades’ which will be transported by road from Patna, the capital of the neighbouring state of 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.
Three auto manufacturers Piaggio, Bajaj and TVS have agreed to supply CNG vehicles. Gail is also organizing awareness programmes for auto rickshaw owners and drivers for the smooth transition to the use of CNG. In coming years, 22 CNG stations will be commissioned in Jharkhand (Ranchi and Jamshedpur) to supply CNG to over 125,000 vehicles and PNG to over a million households. CGD projects in Ranchi and Jamshedpur are being taken up in parallel with the Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga pipeline. 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.
In Jharkhand, the gas pipeline will be constructed at an estimated investment of rupees 43.66bn ($610mn) and have a length of about 551-km covering 12 districts of Chatra, Giridih, Hazaribagh, Bokaro, Ramgarh, Dhanbad, Saraikela, Ranchi, Khunti, Gumla, Simdega and East Singhbhum.
The overall capital expenditure for the Ranchi and Jamshedpur CGD projects will be rupees 15bn of which rupees 4.5bn will be spent in the next three to five years, Gail said.