Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday said that the National Democratic Alliance government’s flagship Urja Ganga gas pipeline will now be extended by 750 km to connect the seven North-Eastern states of the country.
“Our aim is to bring the north-east under the natural gas grid. Work has already started on Jagdishpur-Haldia and Bokaro-Dhamra region of the pipeline. Now, we are extending it to Guwahati,” said petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan, addressing a Ficci summit in New Delhi.
In addition, the pipeline will now be extended with an aim to help in better utilisation of gas deposits in Manipur, Silchar Valley and Arunachal Pradesh, and in turn create more jobs in the region. Pradhan said while there are gas reserves in these areas, they have not been exploited given the lack of transmission infrastructure.
GAIL has already done a feasibility study to lay the pipeline up to Guwahati in Assam within the approved project cost of Rs 12,940 crore for Urja Ganga, which is the first pipeline project to have got central assistance of Rs 5,176 crore.
(Source: Financial Expres)