Will Chennai get Piped natural gas?
Posted on: 03/May/2019 5:08:08 PM
One year ago, there was an exclusive road show conducted for PNG distribution – Piped Natural Gas across Chennai, Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur districts. In spite of having waited for over a year, still, the project has not taken off in the aforementioned geographic locations.
Reports from Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board says the proposal included 33 lakh connections in Chennai and Tiruvallur and 11.51 lakh numbers in Kancheepuram. Furthermore, there will be compressed natural gas supply along Delhi and a few other cities so that it will be helpful for automobiles. There are to be 222 CNG stations in Chennai and Tiruvallur, and 111 CNG connections in Kancheepuram.
Coming on to the benefits of natural gas, it can easily be made available in surplus amount. It is also very friendly on the environment as it is not fossil fuel. Also it is lighter when compared to liquefied petroleum gas hence it can easily rise up in the air and get dispersed easily too which on the whole brings down the possibility of catching fire. In terms of pricing this is available at cheaper price than LPG. There is about Rs 10 difference per kilo, say experts from IOCL.
As things get settled, soon, actions may be expected in these districts. There will probably be road cuts for laying underground pipelines. These are to be laid at about 1m depth. And compressed natural gas stations are to be built out in order to deliver PNG connections for both domestic and commercial consumers. The gas thus distributed will be procured and largely stored in the liquid form at safe temperature of -162 degree Centigrate at the terminal end. And while supplying to the customers, it shall be converted to gas.
There are totally 11 areas totally selected for providing this scheme. This also includes one in Puducherry. The works are started at the respective companies in geographic locations including Coimbatore, Tirupur, Tiruvarur, Karaikal, Nagapattinam, and Salem, say official sources.
