PM set to inaugurate GAIL’s Dobhi-Durgapur pipeline in West Bengal on Feb 7. Here’s why it matters

• The gas pipeline is part of the Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga project and is set to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 7

• The operationalisation of the pipeline will also bring city gas distribution geographical areas along the route

New Delhi: With the completion of the 348-kilometre gas pipeline from Dobhi in Bihar to Durgapur in West Bengal, state-run GAIL (India) Ltd has put West Bengal on India's national gas grid. The gas pipeline, which has been built at a cost of Rs 2,433 crore, will bring fuel, which is cheaper than petrol and diesel, for automobiles, industries and domestic consumers and for production of urea in and around the eastern state. The pipeline is part of the Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga project and is set to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 7.

"The government's consistent push for a gas-based economy that not just reduces carbon emissions but provides reliable and convenient fuel has opened new paradigms and the Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga is one of them," said GAIL Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Manoj Jain. While remarking that GAIL had previously commissioned a pipeline up to Bihar, Jain added, "The Prime Minister will on Sunday dedicate to the nation the Dobhi-Durgapur section." 

Dobhi-Durgapur pipeline will bring up CGD network along route

The Dobhi-Durgapur pipeline project connects the end point of legacy gas pipelines at Jagdishpur in Uttar Pradesh to Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha. The operationalisation of the pipeline will also bring city gas distribution geographical areas along the route. "In the next 3 years, 3-4 lakh piped natural gas connections will be provided to household kitchens and 200 CNG stations will be set up in these places," said Jain.

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While asserting that the Dobhi-Durgapur section of the pipeline was completed as per schedule despite the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Jain said, "It will spur small industrial zones in Jharkhand and West Bengal." The project will also help in the revival of fertiliser plant at Sindri in Jharkhand and supply gas to Matix fertilizer plant in Durgapur.

The pipeline is to be further extended to Haldia in West Bengal and to Bokaro in Jharkhand, Dhamra in Odisha and Guwahati in Assam in next one and half years.

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