Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will launch the commencement of Piped Natural Gas (PNG) under Urja Ganga gas pipeline project on October 20 in Odisha.

GAIL (India) Limited will commence supply of environment-friendly PNG in 255 houses in NALCO Nagar in the first phase.

PNG supply in NALCO Nagar would commence by March 2018 on a pilot basis. However, GAIL took up the project on a war-footing and will commence supply of natural gas almost six months before the deadline, Dr Karnatak said.

In Bhubaneshwar & Cuttack, the number of PNG connections will be gradually ramped up in the next three to five years. Moreover, 25 CNG stations will be commissioned in the twin cities to supply compressed natural gas (CNG) fuel to vehicles.

In Bhubaneswar, construction activities of CNG stations have already been taken up at Chandrasekharpur, Patia, Khandagiri and Tamando, and supply will be commenced at the earliest.

The commencement of supply of natural gas is an important step of developing a gas-based economy and linking Eastern India to the country’s Natural Gas Grid through the ‘Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga’, which will pass through five states, i.e. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal. The longest stretch of the project – 769 kms – will be built in Odisha.