Modi to dedicate Kochi-Mangaluru gas pipeline to nation on Tuesday

New Delhi, January 3, 2021

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate the Kochi-Mangaluru natural gas pipeline to the nation via video conferencing on Tuesday.

"The event marks an important milestone towards the creation of ‘One Nation One Gas Grid'," an official press release said.

The Governors and Chief Ministers of Karnataka and Kerala, along with Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, will be present on the occasion.

The 450-km-long has been built by public sector GAIL (India) Ltd and has a transportation capacity of 12 million metric standard cubic metres per day (MMSCMD).

The pipeline will carry natural gas from the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Regasification Terminal at Kochi (Kerala) to Mangaluru (Dakshina Kannada district, Karnataka), passing through Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod districts of Kerala.

The total cost of the project was about Rs. 3,000 crore and its construction created over 12 lakh man-days of employment, the release said.

"Laying of the pipeline was an engineering challenge as the route of the pipeline necessitated it to cross water bodies at more than 100 locations. This was done through a special technique called Horizontal Directional Drilling method.

"The pipeline will supply environment friendly and affordable fuel in the form of Piped Natural Gas (PNG) to households and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) to the transportation sector. It will also supply natural gas to commercial and industrial units across the districts along the pipeline. Consumption of cleaner fuel will help in improving air quality by curbing air pollution," the release added.

NNN