The "Urja Ganga" pipeline, which is India's largest initiative to bring environmentally friendly gas to hitherto untapped regions, has brought the advantages of cheaper natural gas costs to the hinterland, aiding in the expansion of the use of the cleaner fuel, according to official sources. Since only the Western and Northern regions of the country had pipelines connecting the fuel's source to consumers, natural gas was previously only available in these regions for use as a fuel to produce electricity, fertiliser, or convert into CNG and cooking gas.
A 2,655-km pipeline that would run from Jagdishpur in Uttar Pradesh to Haldia in West Bengal, Bokaro in Jharkhand, and Dhamra in Odisha began construction in October 2016. To transport the petroleum to previously unconnected states in the East, a 726 km line from Barauni in Bihar was constructed to Guwahati in Assam. The Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga pipeline, also known as the Jagdishpur-Haldia-Bokaro-Dhamra Pipeline (JHBDPL), is now prepared to deliver gas to the eastern states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, and West Bengal, according to official sources. This has helped pass on the benefit of reduction in CNG and piped cooking gas prices to consumers in these regions
following the government decision to cut input natural gas prices. About Rs 5-7 reduction in rates has now reached consumers in 20 towns and cities in the hinterland. Gas pipeline is the cheapest mode of transportation of gas. Sources said to carry gas to the eastern states of India, state-owned gas utility GAIL (India) Ltd was authorized to lay JHBDPL. The government provided 40 per cent viability gap funding amounting to Rs 5,176 crore for execution of JHBDPL.
Further, as a part of JHBDPL, GAIL is also laying Barauni-Guwahati pipeline which shall act as a source for North East Gas Grid pipeline being executed with 60 per cent viability gap funding amounting to Rs 5,559 crore to connect all the North Eastern states to natural gas source and supply gas to all parts of the country. The Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga pipeline will connect all the geographical areas (more than 90) spread over the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal and further to the North Eastern Region of India.
With the completion of this project, the North Eastern/ Eastern part of India becomes an integral part of the gas-based economy with twin benefits of cheapest transportation of gas through Urja Ganga and gas pricing reforms, they said. Under the unified tariff regulations recently notified by sector regulator Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB), transportation tariff has been cut by about 50 per cent to Rs 99.90 per million British thermal units for the eastern parts, helping make the clean fuel more affordable.
The updated domestic natural gas pricing rules for gas generated from nominated fields controlled by the state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd. were approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs last week. The cost of such natural gas shall be announced on a monthly basis and shall equal 10% of the monthly average of the Indian crude basket. There will be a floor price and a ceiling for gas generated from ONGC/nomination OIL's fields. As a result, petrol is now less expensive per mmBtu, at USD 6.5 instead of USD 8.57. They added that the reforms will result in a large drop in the cost of compressed natural gas (CNG) for transportation as well as piped cooking gas for homes, as well as a reduction in the weight of fertiliser subsidies and support for the domestic energy industry.
