GAIL, Hindustan Petroleum to pump in Rs 17,000 cr to boost Bengal CNG infra

GAIL, its JV company Bengal Gas Co and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd's combined investment in various CNG projects in West Bengal will be Rs 17,000 crore over the next five years, senior officials said on Thursday.

The projects include piped gas distribution and setting up of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations. Availability of the green fuel is expected to play a role in reducing air pollution.

HPCL will be investing Rs 8,000 crore in city gas distribution and CNG station infrastructure, while, GAIL and Bengal Gas will jointly invest Rs 9,000 crore to set up the pipeline, officials said.

The CNG pipeline from Durgapur is expected to reach Kolkata by September 2023. Of the 315 km long Durgapur to Haldia pipeline, only 60-70 kilometres have been completed in patches.

We had eight districts and now we are set to get four more districts for city gas distribution in West Bengal. Altogether our investment will go up from Rs 5800 crore to Rs 8000 crore, HPCL CGM (City Gas Distribution) Sanjoy Ghosh told PTI.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Bengal Global Business Summit organised by the West Bengal government, GAIL director (business development), M V Iyer, shared details of the company's ongoing natural gas pipeline infrastructure projects in the state.

GAIL will implement projects worth over Rs 4,000 crore in West Bengal. In addition, GAIL JV company Bengal Gas will invest around Rs 5,000 crore in the state, Iyer said.

Bengal Gas Company Ltd is a 74:26 per cent JV between GAIL and Greater Calcutta Gas Supply Corporation Limited formed to develop city gas distribution network in Kolkata and its nearby areas.

In West Bengal, GAIL (India) Ltd is executing 846 km of pipeline in 15 districts.

After completing the stretch of pipeline from Dobhi (in Bihar) to Durgapur, gas supply to Matix Fertilizers was commenced by GAIL in August 2021. The 315 km long Durgapur to Haldia pipeline including spur line to Kolkata is under construction, Iyer said.

Asked whether land acquisition was hurting progress of the project, Iyer said it is a problem in the entire country but the state government is providing support to the company.

The West Bengal government has formed a committee to oversee execution of the projects in the state.

The Maharatna company is operating 13,840 km of natural gas pipeline network nationwide. Currently, GAIL is implementing its Jagdishpur Haldia Bokaro Dhamra pipeline and Barauni Guwahati Pipeline in Eastern India.

These pipelines are known as the Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga pipeline project as part of the National Gas Grid to bring green fuel to people and industry.

Meanwhile, ONGC said it will be investing Rs 1,500 crore over the next 3-4 years for gas exploration at Ashoknager in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.