Guwahati, Mar 8
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to inaugurate the Barauni-Guwahati Natural Gas Pipeline (BGPL), a milestone project linking the North East region to the National Gas Grid, during his visit to Assam on Saturday, a top official of the executing company, GAIL (India) Ltd, said.
This pipeline will provide a dependable source of clean energy, foster economic growth and enhance the overall well-being of the people of the region, GAIL’s executive director (Projects) AK Tripathi told reporters here on Friday.
The 718km pipeline which traverses through Bihar, West Bengal and Assam has been built at a cost of Rs 3,992 crore by GAIL, a Maharatna PSU under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, he added.
The pipeline is designed to supply natural gas to nine geographical areas covering 31 districts across these three states through authorised city gas distribution (CGD) entities along its route, Tripathi said.
Tripathi highlighted the unique challenges encountered during the project’s execution, such as uneven terrains, hilly landscapes, and deep waterbodies.
“The BGPL is a unique project in terms of application of technology. The topographical challenges encountered were diverse, such as uneven land, hilly terrains, muddy turf and even deep water,” he said.
GAIL employed innovative techniques including micro tunneling and horizontal directional drilling to overcome these challenges, he added.
Tripathi emphasised that comprehensive measures were taken to minimise environmental impact during the project, including mitigation strategies to preserve water quality and vegetative cover along the pipeline route.
While acknowledging delays in the project’s completion, initially targeted for December 2021, the official claimed that there was no significant cost escalation associated with the delays.
The 24-inch diameter pipeline has the capacity to transport around 2.5 MMSCMD of natural gas and is expected to cater to domestic households, industries, commercial units, and automobile sectors in the North East region.
Through the CGDs, approximately 29 lakh households will receive piped natural gas in the nine geographical areas, with over 614 CNG stations planned in these areas.
Tripathi highlighted the environmental benefits of the project, stating that the transportation of natural gas through the pipeline will contribute to reducing around 7.67 lakh tons per annum of carbon dioxide emissions when operated at full capacity.
Furthermore, during the implementation of BGPL, the project generated direct and indirect employment opportunities, with about 15.8 lakh man-days created during the construction phase and around 70,000 man-days expected during the operation and maintenance phase, he added.
