Government approves 60 per cent capital grant for North East Gas grid

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved viability Capital Grant of 60 per cent of the estimated cost of Rs 9,265 crore for the project to Indradhanush Gas Grid Limited (IGGL), thereby, giving a major boost to the development of natural gas grid in North East India.

The North East Gas Grid project is being implemented by IGGL, a Joint Venture company of five CPSEs (GAIL, IOCL, ONGC, OIL, and NRL). The total length of the pipeline is planned to be 1,656 km and will be built at estimated cost of Rs 9,265 crore. It will cover eight states of the North-Eastern region, that is, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura.

IGGL will enhance availability of natural gas in North East and ensure uninterrupted supply of natural gas to industries, domestic consumers, and for transport purposes to establish a clean fuel-led economy. The North East Gas Grid will get the natural gas supply from GAIL’s Barauni – Guwahati pipeline, which is a part of Jagdishpur - Haldia and Bokaro - Dhamra Natural Gas Pipeline Project, popularly known as ‘Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga’.

As per the CMD of GAIL Limited, GAIL has already enabled an online portal, through which, third parties can easily book Common Carrier capacity for natural gas transmission services under GAIL’s pipelines. More than 2,000 consumers have already utilized the services and industrialists from North-East will also be benefited once the natural gas grid is developed in the region.