PM Narendra Modi on Tuesday inaugurated the Kochi-Mangaluru natural gas pipeline, via video conferencing; says, "It is an honour to dedicate the 450-km pipeline to the nation. This is an important day for India, especially for people of Karnataka and Kerala."
"This is an important day for India, especially for the people of Kerala and Karnataka. These two states are being connected by a natural gas pipeline," PM Modi said. He added that the pipeline will facilitate the ease of living for lakhs of people in both the states and also give a boost to the tourism sector.
Inaugurating a 450-km natural gas pipeline between Kochi in Kerala to Mangaluru in Karnataka, he said India under his government is seeing unprecedented work on highways, railway, metro, air, water, digital and gas connectivity which will aid economic development.
The government has an "integrated approach to energy planning. Our energy agenda is all-inclusive," he said. While on the one hand, natural gas pipeline network is being doubled to about 32,000 km in 5-6 years, on the other, work on the world's biggest hybrid renewable plant combining wind and solar power has started in Gujarat.
Also, the emphasis is being laid on manufacturing biofuels as well as electric mobility. In 10 years' time, petrol will be doped with as much as 20 per cent of ethanol extracted from sugarcane and other agro products, he said.
This would help cut reliance on imports for meeting oil needs as well as reduce carbon emissions. Alongside, the share of natural gas in the energy basket is being targeted to be raised to 15 per cent from the current 6.2 per cent, he said.
The pipeline grid will help improve clean energy access as well as also aid in the development of city gas projects, he said. Modi said 900 CNG stations were set up till 2014 after the advent of compressed natural gas as fuel for automobiles in the country around 1992.
In the last six years, the number of CNG stations has gone up to 1,500 and the target is to take them to 10,000, he said. Also, 25 lakh households had piped natural gas connections for using the fuel for cooking purposes till 2014 which has risen to 72 lakh now, he said.
"We are working to provide clean, affordable and sustainable energy," he said. The event marked an important milestone towards the creation of 'one nation, one gas grid', the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement on Sunday.
The 450-km-long pipeline has been built by Gail (India) Ltd.
It has transportation capacity of 12 million metric standard cubic metres per day and will carry natural gas from the liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification terminal in Kochi to Mangaluru, passing through Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod districts, the PMO noted.
The total cost of the project was about Rs 3,000 crore and its construction created over 12 lakh man-days of employment.
The pipeline will supply environment friendly and affordable fuel in the form of piped natural gas (PNG) to households and compressed natural gas (CNG) to the transportation sector.
It will also supply natural gas to commercial and industrial units across the districts along the pipeline, the statement said, adding that the consumption of cleaner fuel will help in improving air quality by curbing air pollution.
Source: oneindia.com
BDST: 1946 HRS, JAN 07, 2021
AP
