Magazine
The completion of the 'Urja Ganga' gas pipeline, an extensive project valued at ₹12,940 crore, has been postponed by nine months and is now expected to be finished by March 2025, as announced by GAIL (India) Ltd. This pipeline is considered to be India's most significant venture in delivering eco-friendly fuel to the country's eastern regions.
Originally, the 3,306-kilometre Jagdishpur-Haldia-Bokaro-Dhamra pipeline was scheduled to be operational by June 2024. However, due to a delay in securing the right of use (RoU), the timeline has been adjusted, with completion now projected for March 2025, according to a disclosure made by GAIL in a stock exchange filing.
Construction of the bulk of the pipeline has already been done, and gas has started to flow in most cities along the route. Traditionally, natural gas was available for use as fuel to generate electricity, make fertilizer or turn into CNG and cooking gas only in the western and northern parts of the country, as pipelines taking the fuel from source to users were limited to these parts.
In October 2016, work on laying a pipeline from Jagdishpur in Uttar Pradesh to Haldia in West Bengal, Bokaro in Jharkhand and Dhamra in Odisha began.
The line was extended to Guwahati in Assam from Barauni in Bihar, a length of 726 km, to take the fuel to hereto-unconnected states in the eastern region.
The Jagdishpur-Haldia-Bokaro-Dhamra Pipeline (JHBDPL), popularly called the Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga pipeline, is to supply gas to the eastern states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal.
GAIL, the firm executing the pipeline, said its board of directors in a meeting on June 28 approved the revision of the completion schedule. The completion schedule for the 240-km Dhamra-Haldia pipeline has also been revised from June 2024 to March 2025, it added.
The company on May 10, 2019, stated that it has completed awards of all major contracts worth Rs 10,500 crore for pipeline supply and laying of the integrated 3400-km Jagdishpur-Haldia and Bokaro-Dhamra Natural Gas Pipeline (JHBDPL) and Barauni-Guwahati Pipeline (BGPL) pipeline.
The Indian government has allocated a 40% viability gap funding of ₹5,176 crore for the implementation of the JHBDPL project. Additionally, the Barauni-Guwahati pipeline has been granted a 60% viability gap funding, which totals to ₹5,559 crore. These financial provisions are aimed at supporting the successful execution of these crucial pipeline projects.
The Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga pipeline project is set to link over 90 diverse regions across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal, and extend into India's northeastern territories. Upon its completion, this initiative will seamlessly integrate the eastern and northeastern areas into the nation's gas-fueled economic framework. This integration will be marked by two significant advantages: the most cost-effective gas transit via the Urja Ganga network and the implementation of gas pricing reforms.
As per the latest unified tariff guidelines announced by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB), the transportation tariff for the eastern regions has been significantly reduced by approximately 50% to ₹99.90 per million British thermal units. This substantial reduction is aimed at enhancing the affordability of clean fuel in these areas.
The pipeline has already started feeding seven city gas distribution (CGD) projects in Varanasi, Patna, Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, and Cuttack. The pipeline also connects the refineries, located at Barauni, Haldia, and Paradip.
The JHBDPL has a transmission capacity of 16 million cubic metres of natural gas a day.
Source: PTI
