Inaugurates 450-km long natural gas pipeline from Kochi to Mangaluru
AMN / NEW DELHI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured the nation of providing clean energy by envisaging One Nation, One Gas Grid programme.
Virtually inaugurating the 450-kilometre long natural gas pipeline from Kochi in Kerala to Mangaluru in Karnataka, the Prime Minister said, his government has accelerated reforms in the oil and gas sector, improved accessibility of the renewable energy and completed infrastructure needs of the sector at a faster pace.
He said, the policy initiatives of his Government has reduced dependency on kerosene in the states due to the increased usage of cooking gas.
The Prime Minister informed that there were 24 crore LPG connections till 2014 and since then in six years 24 crore new connections were added. Under the Ujjwala scheme, eight crore connections were provided to the poor. During the lockdown due to the pandemic, the Central Government provided 12 crore free cylinders.
Since the first natural gas pipeline was commissioned in 1987, only 15,000 kms of pipeline were laid in 27 years and since 2014, in just six years, over 16,000 kms of new pipeline works have been taken up.
On the progress in the completion of CNG stations, the Prime Minister said that in 27 years 900 CNG stations were made available and since 2014 in just six years 1,500 new CNG stations were built. He added that the target is to set up 10,000 stations in the coming years. On piped natural gas connections, he pointed out that till 2014, there were 25 lakh such connections and since the last six years 72 lakh piped natural gas connections were added up.
The pipeline connection between Kochi and Mangaluru, he added, will help provide 21 lakh new piped gas connections. On blending of ethanol with petrol, the Prime Minister said that the target is to add 20 per cent ethanol with petrol in the next 10 years. He also said that the share of natural gas in the energy basket will be raised from the current 6.2 per cent to 15 per cent.