National
Piped gas: Consortium formed for supply in 5 dists including Guwahati
GUWAHATI: A new consortium has been established by three public sector undertakings (PSUs), Assam Gas Company Limited (AGCL), Oil India Ltd (OIL) and GAIL Gas Ltd (GGL) to provide piped natural gas (PNG) to five districts in Assam.
Setting up of the consortium follows a joint venture agreement signed by the three companies on July 11 in Guwahati.
The consortium will be involved in the laying, building and operating the City Gas Distribution (CGD) networks as well as supply PNG to the five districts of Assam including Kamrup (M), Kamrup (R), Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj.
“The Barauni-Guwahati pipeline, construction of which is currently underway, is slated to be completed by December 2020.
“Once the construction is completed, we will start supplying piped natural gas to the industrial, commercial and domestic customers in five districts of Assam in the first phase,” said Assam industries & commerce minister, Chandra Mohan Patowary.
The minister further informed that a company named Indradhanush Gas Grid Limited will supply PNG from Guwahati to seven northeastern states in future, while the consortium of AGCL, GAIL and OIL will supply the gas in Assam.
According to Patowary, the project will generate both direct and indirect employment in the state.
“Currently, we are not able to provide sufficient amount of gas to the thermal power projects, tea gardens, Brahmaputra Cracker & Polymer Limited (BCPL) and other industrial units because of shortage of gas supply. Therefore, the pipeline which will connect Guwahati to Barauni will carry enough gas to support the industrial units in Assam. The pipeline will act as the lifeline of industrial development of Assam,” said Patowary.
For the smooth implementation of the piped gas project, the five districts are divided into two geographical areas (GA-2 and GA-3).
GA-2 covers Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj districts, while GA-3 includes Kamrup (M), Kamrup (R) districts.
As part of the project, approximately 4.16 lakh households will be connected with PNG, while 72 CNG stations will be set up to provide clean fuel to vehicles across the five districts. Around Rs 1,700 crores will be invested in the upcoming years to implement the project.
In the GA-2 districts, around 95,000 households will be connected with PNG and 21 CNG stations will be established at an estimated cost of nearly Rs 500 crores.
In the GA-3 districts, around 3,21,000 households will be connected with PNG and 51 CNG stations will be established at an estimated cost of nearly Rs 1,200 crores.
Meanwhile, GAIL has established an office in Guwahati to implement the CGD Networks and PNG project and is looking after the ongoing work of the Guwahati-Barauni pipeline.
“It was a longstanding requirement that there should be availability of piped natural gas in the city of Guwahati and the entire lower Assam. Till now this piped gas facility is available in six districts in upper Assam only,” said Aditya Kumar Sharma, MD, AGCL while reiterating the benefit of the upcoming CGD Networks.
Sharma also said that CGD networks will cover both urban and rural areas.
Under the networks, Kamrup (M) and Kamrup (R) districts will be divided into 16 smaller areas called charge areas, while the Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj districts will be divided into 14 charge areas.
