Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office said in the 450km long Kochi-Mangaluru natural gas pipeline built by GAIL (India) Ltd marks an important milestone towards the creation of “One Nation One Gas Grid”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday inaugurated the natural gas pipeline from Kerala’s Kochi to Mangaluru in Karnataka via video conferencing and said the project will have a positive impact on the economic growth in the two southern states.

“This is an important day for India, especially for the people of Kerala and Karnataka. These two states are being connected by a natural gas pipeline,” PM Modi said. He added that the pipeline will facilitate the ease of living for lakhs of people in both the states and also give a boost to the tourism sector.

In a veiled dig at the previous governments at the Centre, Modi said he didn’t wish to talk about the reasons behind the rate of India’s progress in previous decades, adding, the country cannot develop slowly now. “In recent years, the country has increased its speed, scale, and scope of development,” he said.

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement the 450km long pipeline built by GAIL (India) Ltd marks an important milestone towards the creation of “One Nation One Gas Grid”. The Rs 3,000-crore project, which will carry natural gas from the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Regasification Terminal at Kochi to Mangaluru, while passing through Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod districts, has the transportation capacity of 12 million metric standard cubic metres per day, the statement added.

Modi’s office said over 1.2 million man-days of employment was generated during the construction of the pipeline. The pipeline will supply environment-friendly and affordable fuel in the form of piped natural gas (PNG) to households and compressed natural gas (CNG) to the transportation sector. It will also supply natural gas to commercial and industrial units across the districts along the pipeline, PMO said. Consumption of cleaner fuel will help in improving air quality by curbing air pollution.

Updated: Jan 05, 2021, 11:46 IST

hindustantimes.com | Edited by Kanishka Sarkar

Hindustan Times, New Delhi