CHENNAI: In a significant development paving the way to offer piped gas supply to domestic households, commercial establishments and industries, Tamil Nadu’s first Liquified Compressed Natural Gas (LCNG) station in Ranipet district was inaugurated by Chief Minister MK Stalin virtually on Monday.
The LCNG Station near Manthangal village is the first of its kind in TN. It will act as a local storage point to which gas will be brought in liquid form by trucks from the LNG terminal in Ennore operated by Indian Oil Corporation and from Kochi, operated by Petronas LNG.
The liquified gas will be off-loaded in the local storage tank. From there it will be converted to gas and transferred to pipelines catering to Vellore, Ranipet and Tirupattur. The new station will benefit over 30,000 households and 325 industrial and commercial establishments, said K R Venkatesan, regional head of AG&P Pratham.
AG&P Pratham has already laid 45 km of pipelines surrounding the station. Through these pipelines, the requirements of industries, domestic consumers, commercial entities and retail outlets such as CNG stations will be met. The company will be developing a 300 km-pipeline network in the Vellore-Ranipet area by the end of the 2023 financial year.
Piped natural gas will be 30% cheaper than a gas cylinder, the price of which has crossed the `1,000 mark, and will be available 24 hours a day. The consumption of gas will be measured by a meter installed in the industries, commercial establishments and households. CNG used by vehicles will also be cheaper by 30% and will provide more mileage than petrol or diesel, he said.
All languages must be treated equally, says Stalin
He stressed that India’s character is of unity in diversity and hence all languages must be treated equally. “We should strive to make all languages the official languages of the Union government,” he said.
Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president KS Alagiri, MDMK general secretary Vaiko, CPM state secretary K Balakrishnan and others also condemned panel’s recommendations and urged the union government to give up the attempts to make Hindi mandatory.
Investment of Rs 2,700 cr planned
AG&P Pratham has an investment of Rs 2,700 crore planned for TN over the next eight years. It has a license to supply gas in Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu, Vellore, Ranipet, Tirupattur and Ramnad districts as well as south east Chennai