October 13, 2020: Industries and Commerce Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary reviewed the progress of Indradhanush Gas Grid Pipeline and Barauni-Guwahati Gas Pipeline projects through a video conference on Monday.
GAIL is executing the 729 km long pipeline project from Barauni in Bihar to Guwahati. Indradhanush Gas Grid Limited (IGGL) is executing the North East Gas Grid of 1,656 km by connecting it with the Barauni-Guwahati Pipeline.
As part of the Government of India’s Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 for North East, the gas grid project will connect the eight north eastern states to the National Gas Grid through the Barauni-Guwahati Gas Pipeline as part of the Urja-Ganga scheme.
Land acquisition process for pipeline Right of Use (ROU) is going on in all the eight North Eastern States viz. Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura.
GAIL expressed satisfaction that all its issues have been resolved by the Industry Department and Deputy Commissioners of Assam.A nodal officer from the Industry Department has been entrusted the duty for facilitating various clearances and land matters upon the request of IGGL. The target date of completion of the Baruani-Guwahati Pipeline is April, 2021 and that of IGGL is March, 2024.
Reviewing the status, Minister Patowary said, ‘The use of coal grew dramatically in the 19th century, till it was replaced by oil in the 20th century. However, natural gas is the dominant factor in the 21st century. Natural gas, being the cleanest of all natural fuels, is beingwidely used from automobile industry to power production, from tea to steel, from PNG (Domestic) to CNG (Transport).’
Thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, for truly recognizing the huge potentiality of natural gas in North-East, Minister Patowary called upon all the stakeholders to work as a team to complete both the projects in time as it will bring a sea-change in the socio-economic scenario of the region.
The Minister asked to hold a virtual conclave involving the industrialists, business organizations and technical experts of GAIL and IGGL for setting up of gas-based industries in Assam. ‘Gas-based industries will boost industrial growth without impacting the environment and ensure a better quality of life to the people due to use of clean and green fuel’, said Patowary.