Government Approved ₹ 5,559-Crore Booster for Northeast Gas Grid

NEW DELHI: The government on Wednesday approved viability gap funding (VGF) of Rs 5,559 crore for a gas pipeline network proposed to be built in the northeast, the second instance of public funding for making an energy lifeline economically viable.

Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the VGF amount sanctioned by the Cabinet’s panel on economic affairs will cover 60% of the Rs 9,265-crore project. The 1,656-km pipeline will connect Guwahati in Assam to major cities in the region such as Itanagar, Dimapur, Kohima, Imphal, Aizawl, Agartala, Shillong, Silchar, Numaligarh and Gangtok.

He said the pipeline will enable to pipe cooking gas to households and supply CNG (compressed natural gas) for automobiles in the northeast “just like in Delhi” as well as to fuel industry. The government had in 2016 sanctioned a capital grant of Rs 5,176 crore, or 40% of the cost, for Urja Ganga, the 2,655-km Jagdishpur-Haldia and Bokaro-Dhamra (JHBDPL) gas pipeline being built by state-run GAIL. All other pipelines have been funded by public or private companies.

The northeast pipeline grid is to be implemented by Indradhanush Gas Grid, a joint venture of GAIL, IndianOil, ONGC, Oil India Ltd and Numaligarh Refinery Ltd. The consortium had told the government the project would not be viable in the absence of government funding as there were not enough large customers.

GAIL is also laying a 750-km line from Barauni to Guwahati as part of the Rs 12,940 crore JHBDPL project, which is also known as the Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga project. This is proposed to be connected to the Northeast via the Indradhanush grid. Pradhan said the project is critical for implementing the Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 for the north-east, which entails leveraging the region’s hydrocarbon potential for enhancing access to clean fuel and accelerating economic growth.

“About 20% of India’s natural gas production comes from the north-east. Out of about 75 million cubic meters per day of gas output, 15 come from north-east.

Currently Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura have established gas production potential while there are possibilities for the same in Nagaland and Manipur,” Pradhan said. The funding support to the gas grid is part of the government’s goal to raise the share of natural gas in the country’s energy basket to 15% by 2030 from 6% at present.

Source: ToI

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