CCEA approves Rs.5,176 cr for gas infra development in Eastern part

The Dollar Business Bureau

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved Rs.5,176 crore as capital grant to Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) for the development of gas infrastructure in the Eastern region of the country.

“Chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the CCEA has approved viability gap funding/partial capital grant at 40 percent (Rs. 5,176 crore) of the estimated capital cost of Rs. 12,940 crore to GAIL for development of 2539 km long Jagdishpur-Haidia and Bokaro-Dhamra Gas Pipeline (JHBDPL) project,” said an official statement.

The JHBDPL project will link the country’s eastern part with the National Gas Grid, it added.

The project will also make sure the availability of eco-friendly and clean fuel to various sectors such as commercial, industrial, domestic and transport in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, the statement said.

The capital grant will enhance the supply of clean and eco-friendly fuel at reasonable rates to industries and also boost industrial development in the states, it said.

In addition, the CCEA has given its approval for simultaneously developing the City Gas Distribution (CGD) networks in the cities of Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Jamshedpur, Kolkata, Patna, Ranchi, Varanasi, etc, lies in the route of JHBDPL project. The distribution networks will be established by GAIL in association with the concerned state governments.

The project will provide clean cooking gas to the domestic households and also provide clean and ecofriendly fuel to the transport sector of the eastern part. With the development of these CGD networks, around 1.25 crore people will be directly benefitted, living in these cities.

All these projects will create employment, direct as well as indirect, for around 21,000 people and will enhance socio-economic development in the eastern region of the country.