As many as 23,300 houses in the city are set to get piped natural gas (PNG) within a year, doing away with the hassles associated with the conventional LPG cylinders. GAIL Gas Ltd. said infrastructure for domestic PNG connections was ready for nearly 34,500 houses, of which 23,300 houses are said to be ready for conversion, which means piped gas would be available for use between six months and one year for them.
As many as 3,000 houses are already said to be using PNG in Bengaluru. The Bengaluru City Gas Distribution (CGD) project, being implemented at a cost of ₹ 6283 crore in Bengaluru urban and rural, is expected to provide uninterrupted supply of natural gas to 1.32 lakh households in five years.
At a formal “inauguration” of the CGD project on Sunday, GAIL officials said apart from domestic use, natural gas was also being used by nine industries and 22 commercial units were also connected with PNG.
CNG stations
In addition to PNG connections, officials said a CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) station had been commissioned in Laggere, while three more stations were ready for commissioning at BMTC bus depots at Sumanahalli, Hennur and Peenya. Sunday also saw the launch of a mobile app (GAIL GAS mobile app) touted to be a one-stop platform for consumers to view and pay their PNG bills, locate CNG stations and get emergency instructions, among others.
Expansion
PNG projects will not be limited to Bengaluru. Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Chemicals and Fertilisers U. Ananth Kumar said in addition to the Dhabol-Bengaluru line, the Kochi-Mangaluru pipeline will also be ready by the end of 2018. “After that, the Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd., which runs on crude oil, will be able to run on clean gas,” he added.
Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan said a Chennai-Bengaluru line is also proposed to be established.
‘Policy to ban fuel oil and DG sets’
Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan said here on Sunday that he would “request” the Karnataka Government to come out with a policy to “totally ban fuel oil which is used in food processing, bakeries and masala making.” Batting for natural gas, he also said diesel based generators used for power backup should also be banned.
