Assam Industries and Commerce Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said that the Barauni-Guwahati pipeline will be completed by April 2021 and that of IGCL is March 2024. The minister said this after he reviewed the progress of the Indradhanush Gas Grid Pipeline and the project of the Barauni-Guwahati pipeline through video conferencing on Monday.
The 729 km long pipeline project from Barauni in Bihar to Guwahati has been executed by GAIL while Indradhanush Gas Grid Limited (IGGL) is executing the North East Gas Grid of 1,656 km by connecting it with the Barauni-Guwahati Pipeline.
The gas grid project will connect the eight north eastern states to the National Gas Grid through the Barauni-Guwahati Gas Pipeline as part of the Urja-Ganga scheme as part of the Government of India's Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 for North East.
Land acquisition process for pipeline Right of Use (ROU) is going on in all the eight North Eastern States viz. Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura.
GAIL expressed satisfaction that all its issues have been resolved by the Industry Department and Deputy Commissioners of Assam. A nodal officer from the Industry Department has been entrusted the duty for facilitating various clearances and land matters upon the request of IGGL.
Reviewing the status, the Minister said, "The use of coal grew dramatically in the 19th century, till it was replaced by oil in the 20th century. However, natural gas is the dominant factor in the 21st century. Natural gas, being the cleanest of all natural fuels, is beingwidely used from automobile industry to power production, from tea to steel, from PNG (Domestic) to CNG (Transport)."
It may be mentioned that the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) of the Central Government approved the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) to IGGL at 60% of the estimated cost of Rs. 9,265 crores for setting up of the North East Gas Grid of 1,656 km. The Government of India will provide Rs. 5,559 crores as a grant to implement the project. The rest Rs. 3,706 crores shall be funded by the promoters of the IGGL's joint ventures – IOCL, ONGC, GAIL, OIL, and NRL.