Prime Minister Narendra Modi would dedicate theKochi-Mangaluru natural gas pipeline to the nation on Tuesday -- an importantmilestone towards the creation of 'One Nation, One Gas Grid'.
The Prime Minister would inaugurate the pipeline at 11a.m. via video-conferencing. Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala, Chief MinisterB.S. Yediyurappa, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan and Kerala Chief MinisterPinarayi Vijayan along with Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural GasDharmendra Pradhan, would also be present at the occasion.
The 450-km pipeline has been built by GAIL (India) Ltd.It has a transportation capacity of 12 million metric standard cubic metres perday and would carry natural gas from the Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) RegasificationTerminal at Kochi (Kerala) to Mangaluru (Dakshina Kannada district, Karnataka)while passing through Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode,Kannur and Kasaragod districts.
The overall cost of the project was nearly Rs 3,000 croreand its construction created over 12 lakh man-days of employment.
The laying of the pipeline was an engineering challengeas the route of the pipeline necessitated it to cross water bodies at more than100 locations. This was done through a special technique called HorizontalDirectional Drilling method.
The pipeline would supply environment-friendly andaffordable fuel in the form of Piped Natural Gas (PNG) to households andCompressed Natural Gas (CNG) to the transportation sector. It would also supplynatural gas to commercial and industrial units across the districts along thepipeline.
The consumption of cleaner fuel would help in improvingair quality by curbing air pollution.