PM to lay stone for GAIL’s 317 kms Nagpur-Jabalpur pipeline today
| Date :05-Oct-2023 |
Business Reporter
“Materialising the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi towards expansion of National Gas Grid, the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) is going to start 317-km-long Nagpur-Jabalpur Natural Gas Pipeline Project. It is an opportunity for GAIL that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone of the project while he will also inaugurate Vijaipur-Auraiya Natural Gas Pipeline Project at a function in Jabalpur on Thursday,” said Sandeep Kumar Gupta, CMD of GAIL, while addressing a press conference on Wednesday. CMD Gupta added that the 317-km-long Nagpur-Jabalpur Natural Gas Pipeline which is being built at an investment of Rs 1,103 crore will originate from Nagpur in Maharashtra and pass through Chhindwara, Seoni and Jabalpur districts in Madhya Pradesh. The length of the pipeline in Madhya Pradesh is 256 km, passing through 144 villages of these three districts. This pipeline is a part of 1,755 km-long Mumbai-Nagpur-Jharsuguda Pipeline (MNJPL) Project which is categorised as high impact category under PM Gati Shakti Master Plan initiative.
The pipeline will supply natural gas to four geographical areas authorised by PNGRB along this pipeline route in Madhya Pradesh. These include Betul, Chhindwara, Seoni and Balaghat, Damoh, Jabalpur, Katni, Mandla, Umaria and Dindori, Hoshangabad, Narsinghpur, Sagar, Vidisha and Anuppur. Thus, with completion of this pipeline, 15 districts of Madhya Pradesh will have access to natural gas. Around 26 lakh PNG connections will be provided and more than 550 CNG stations will be established in these 4 GAs by the city gas distribution companies in coming days. The project is targeted to be completed by October 2024 and will provide around five lakh man-days of direct or indirect employment opportunities during the construction phase. The 352 km-long Vijaipur-Auraiya Natural Gas Pipeline (193 km in Madhya Pradesh and 159 km in Uttar Pradesh) has been built at an investment of Rs 1,765 crore to supply environment-friendly and affordable fuel to industries, households and transport sectors in the State of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
A unique feature of natural gas pipelines is availability of uninterrupted supply of fuel at door step. Vehicular traffic congestion of roads will be reduced since tankers and heavy vehicles related to gas supply by road would be off the road due to pipeline. It will help to reduce carbon emission and air pollution also. With increasing concerns about environmental degeneration and pollution, natural gas can serve as a clean and environment friendly fuel. During the press conference, Deepak Gupta, Director (Projects), D K Ojha, Deputy Director General, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, GoI, Akhilesh Jain, Independent Director, and A K Tripathi were present.