Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated Kochi-Mangaluru Natural Gas Pipeline to the nation. The event marks an important milestone towards the creation of ‘one nation one gas grid’. The 450 km long pipeline has been built by GAIL (India). The project has a transportation capacity of 12 mmscmpd and will carry natural gas from the liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification terminal in Kochi to Mangaluru, passing through Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod districts. The total cost of the project was about Rs 3,000 crore and its construction created over 12 lakh man-days of employment.
Apart from this, work is underway on more than 16,000 km of gas pipeline nationwide which will be complete in the next five to six years. The Centre is also taking policy initiatives to increase the share of natural gas in India’s energy basket from six per cent to 15 per cent.