BHUBANESWAR: After launching the piped natural gas supply project six months ahead of schedule, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday inaugurated the first compressed natural gas (CNG) station of Eastern Indian in the city under Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga programme.
Describing this as the new year’s gift to the people of Odisha by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Pradhan said the commencement of CNG supply is a major step towards fulfilling Modi’s dream of developing a gas-based economy and linking Eastern India to the country’s natural gas grid.Claiming that the cheaper and environment friendly natural gas will reduce the cost of fuel by 30-40 per cent, Pradhan said every auto-rickshaw driver in the city will be able to save more than `1500 per month on fuel by switching over to CNG fuel while the expenditure on fuel cost for two-wheeler riders will come down significantly.
With 1 kg of CNG gas costing `59, a scooter will run for about 80 km when the mileage is just half the distance in case of petrol which is costing about `68 per litre. Apart from saving the cost, the natural gas will reduce pollution to a great extent, he said while inaugurating two CNG stations in Chandrasekharpur and Patia and launching CNG-run scooters in the city.
“While many cities of the country are suffering due to high level of pollution, CNG will be a smart fuel for smart city like Bhubaneswar,” he said.The Union Minister said two more CNG stations being constructed at Khandagiri and Tamando will be commissioned shortly and efforts are on to commission 25 more CNG stations to cater to the need of about 1.5 lakh vehicles in the twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.
Pradhan said `5,000 crore will be invested for pipeline project out of which `2,000 crore is estimated to be invested for development of human resources. In first phase, `1,700 crore will be invested for compressed gas distribution (CGD) through 100 km pipeline in Cuttack-Bhubaneswar. Construction and maintenance of these pipelines will create huge employment for the local youths and it will help boost the State’s economy. Bhubaneswar MP Prasanna Patsani and local MLA Priyadarshi Mishra of BJD, who were invitees to the function, were conspicuous by their absence.