ROURKELA: Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram inaugurated a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) station of GAIL Gas Limited, the first in Rourkela, along the Ring Road near Chhend Colony here on Sunday.
The CNG station would give a fillip for promoting eco-friendly mobility network in the Steel City. The occasion was marked by Oram symbolically filling a CNG auto-rickshaw. He also interacted with drivers of CNG auto-rickshaws. Officials said GAIL Gas Limited has won the City Gas Distribution (CGD) bid for Sundargarh and Jharsuguda districts for supply of CNG for transport sector and Piped Natural Gas (PNG) for households, industries and commercial units.
The main source for CGD project will be GAIL’s Jagdishpur-Haldia-Dhamra-Bokaro pipeline. The project will cover an area of 12,130.70 sq km in the two districts with 22 charge areas including Lahunipara, Hemgir, Lephripara, Balisankara, Tangarapali, Sundargarh, Subdega, Baragaon, Kutra, Rajagangapur, Kuanrmunda, Nuagaon, Bisra, Lathikata, Gurundia, Bonai, Koida in Sundargarh and Lakhanpur, Jharsuguda, Kirimira, Laikera and Kolabira in Jharsuguda.
The total investment for the project, to be implemented in 25 years, is `944 crore. Around one lakh households are expected to be connected with the PNG network while PNG supply to industries and commercial units will substantially curb pollution.
Officials said GAIL Gas Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Maharatna GAIL (India) Limited, will also implement CGD projects in Puri, Nayagarh and Ganjam districts. CEO, GAIL Gas Limited AK Jana and COO Rajeev Garg were among the officials who accompanied Oram at the inauguration ceremony.