Piped cooking gas supplies to households and CNG sale to automobiles in Jamshedpur in Jharkhand started on Friday with the commencement of city gas distribution business in the city.
Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das inaugurated the supply of domestic Piped Natural Gas (PNG) and inaugurated Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) station in Jamshedpur, a statement issued by state-owned gas utility GAIL India Ltd said here.
"During the event, work for laying a 125 km long spur pipeline from Purulia to Jamshedpur was also commenced. This will feed city gas distribution (CGD) networks of East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum, and Seraikela-Kharsawan geographical areas. Several rolling-steel, wire, and pipe along with automobile industries would be benefited by the availability of cheaper and continuous fuel," it said.
The projects are being implemented by GAIL which is constructing the prestigious Jagdishpur-Haldia, Bokaro-Dhamra and Barauni-Guwahati Natural Gas Pipeline (JHBDPL), popularly known as the Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga and also the CGD projects in Ranchi and Jamshedpur.
"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 Purulia-Jamshedpur (spur-line) from the JHBDPL," it said.
As many as one lakh households will be given piped cooking gas connections in Jamshedpur, in addition to 125 commercial connections and 85 industrial connections.
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"In coming years, 22 CNG stations will be commissioned in Jharkhand (Ranchi & Jamshedpur) including 11 in Jamshedpur by GAIL to supply CNG to over 1.25 lakhs vehicles," the statement said.
CGD projects in Ranchi and Jamshedpur are being taken up in parallel with the Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga pipeline.
In Jharkhand, the natural gas pipeline will be constructed at an estimated investment of Rs 4,366 crore 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 Rs 1,500 crore, of which Rs 450 crore will be spent in the next three to five years. Out of the Rs 450 crore, about Rs 221 crore will be in Jamshedpur, it said.
"The JHBDPL will provide a major boost to industries in eastern India and will supply natural gas for the revival of fertilizer plants in Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh), Barauni (Bihar), Sindri (Jharkhand) and Talcher (Odisha). The revival of these fertilizer plants would result in an additional annual production capacity of 75 lakh tonne would be created, making India self-reliant in meeting the annual domestic demand," GAIL said.
Pradhan and Das also laid the foundation stone of an LPG bottling plant at Barhi in the Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand.
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) is setting up the LPG bottling plant on a 26-acre land at an investment of Rs 161.5 crore, the company said in a separate statement.
The plant, which will have a capacity to refill 45,000 cylinders a day, is scheduled for completion in September 2021.