NEW DELHI: As part of India’s larger energy diplomacy, the government is planning to extend the North Eastern Gas Grid (NEGG) to neighboring countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan after its completion in the next two months.
According to officials of the petroleum ministry, work on the NEGG, which aims to create a natural gas pipeline network in northeastern India, is nearing completion. Once finished, it will be connected to the national grid and then to the other countries. Later, the government will also expand the pipelines to Sri Lanka and Myanmar.
“The proposal was sent to the Ministry of External Affairs, and they would further decide how to take it forward. They would talk to the concerned neighbouring countries for implementation of the project,” said an official.
The purpose of the move is to promote cross border energy trade and South Asia first policy. India planned to connect Myanmar and Bangladesh through an LNG pipeline, but later it was shelved.
The national gas grid is already operational, but interconnections at a few locations are yet to be completed. It will be connected with the northeastern gas grid in the next two months. The official also mentioned that this move will increase natural gas production in the country, as ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation) is currently unable to produce much gas due to supply issues.
India is actively expanding its national gas grid under the “One Nation, One Gas Grid” initiative. As of October 2023, over 12,206 kilometers of new pipelines are under various stages of construction. This aims to add to the existing 23,000 km operational network.
The north-east gas grid connects eight states in the region -- Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram, Sikkim and Tripura. This will ensure natural gas availability across the region.This is a joint venture of five state-run oil and gas companies -- GAIL, Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Oil India Limited (OIL), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL).