CNG mother station in Vijayawada

The compressed natural gas (CNG) mother station at Vidhyadharapuram in Vijayawada, set up by Bhagyanagar Gas Limited (BGL), commenced normal operations on Monday.

BGL is a joint venture between GAIL (India) Limited, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and Andhra Pradesh Industrial Development Corporation (APIDC).

The CNG mother station has a capacity of 1,750 metric cubic metres per hour and feeds two subsidiary stations in the city at Bhavanipuram and Ramavaraparu. GAIL has already laid the pipeline for supply of natural gas from tap-off at Kondapalli village from the Lanco Kondapalli pipeline to BGL's Vijayawada city gas station.

The total cost involved in laying the pipeline and the construction of the CNG station, shared between GAIL and BGL, is around Rs 20 crore.

The total capital outlay for the CNG conversion of public transport and the city-wide gas distribution network in Vijayawada is estimated at Rs 57 crore, according to a BGL press release.

BGL is currently negotiating with the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation for conversion of its fleet to CNG. It has also initiated dialogue with other commercial vehicle owners. The CNG initiative is an integral part of BGL's commitment to reduce air pollution.

"The dream of turning Andhra Pradesh into a pollution-free green state is not too far considering the eco-friendly vision of the Andhra government," C N Trivedi, managing director, BGL, stated.