Now, Mangaluru to get piped natural gas by March

Mangaluru: Homes in Mangaluru are likely to get piped natural gas in about a year with Gail Gas Limited expected to open five Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations in the city by March 2019.

The project got underway on Thursday with PM Modi launching the City Gas Distribution (CGD) system for six districts, including Mangaluru in Karnataka and 63 others in the country.  The other districts of the state slated to receive piped natural gas are Udupi, Ballari and Gadag, Bidar, Chitradurga and Davangere and Ramanagar. 

Union Minister  D V Sadananda Gowda inaugurated the project in Mangaluru.  CNG will be supplied in Dakshina Kannada to the transport sector and piped natural gas to households, industries and commercial units. 

The project is expected to cost Rs 1,972 crore for the first 25 years. The district is expected to open 100 CNG stations in all to supply piped natural gas to 3.50 lakh households.

GAIL Gas Limited Chief General Manager, Vivek Wathodkar revealed the work would be undertaken in stages in Mangaluru. 

“The first priority will be the Mangaluru City Corporation area where the government is expected to invest Rs 1,500 crore during the first eight years,” he said. Work on Kochi-Mangaluru pipeline, which will be used for CGD project, has almost been completed, according to him. 

Following a feasibility study by MECON Limited, Gail Gas Limited will lay pipelines to supply gas to homes  in the city. 

Udupi, which will be supplied gas  by Adani Gas Limited, will have 1,10,099 PNG connections, 11 CNG retail outlets and a steel pipeline running over 569 km.