Bhubaneswar: Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday launched supply of Piped Natural Gas (PNG) project under 'Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga' (PMUG) in Odisha.

With this, GAIL started supply of environment-friendly PNG to 255 houses in Nalco Nagar located at Chandrasekharpur area in the state capital here. The supply of PNG to a limited households was done ahead of its schedule in March 2018.

PMUG will pass through five states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal. The longest stretch of the project, which is about 769 km, will be built in Odisha.

"This pipeline will lead to industrial development of eastern India. Based on this gas-based pipeline, we are also planning to commission Talcher Fertiliser plant and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to lay foundation stone for this project in coming November", Pradhan said.

City Gas Distribution (CGD) projects in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack are being taken up in parallel with the Jagdishpur-Haldia & Bokaro-Dhamra Natural Gas Pipeline (JHBDPL).

In Odisha, the Natural Gas Pipeline will be constructed at an estimated investment of Rs 4,000 crore and will have a length of about 769 km covering 13 districts, like Bhadrak, Jajpur, Dhenkanal, Angul, Sundergarh, Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Debagarh, Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack, Khurda, Puri and
Kendrapara.

Initially, natural gas will reach Bhubaneswar in special containers which will be transported by road from Vijaywada in Andhra Pradesh. Later, natural gas will be
supplied through the Jagdishpur Haldia & Bokaro Dhamra Natural Gas Pipeline (JHBDPL). The pipeline is presently under construction and likely to be completed by 2019, they said.

In Bhubaneshwar and Cuttack, the number of PNG connections will be gradually ramped up in the next three to five years. Moreover, 25 CNG stations will be commissioned in the twin cities to supply compressed natural gas (CNG) fuel to
vehicles, Pradhan said.

In Bhubaneswar, construction activities of CNG stations have already been taken up at Chandrasekharpur, Patia, Khandagiri and Tamando, and supply will be commenced at the earliest, he said.

"The overall capital expenditure for the Bhubaneswar and Cuttack CGD projects will be Rs 1,700 crores, of which Rs 400 crores will be spent in the next three to five years," the minister said.

"Around 25,000 households in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack would get PNG connection in their kitchens by December 2019 as part of the City Gas Distribution (CGD) project. The number of PNG connections will be gradually ramped up in the next three to five years," Ashutosh Karnatak, Director of Projects, GAIL said.