Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated Kochi-Mangaluru Natural Gas Pipeline to the nation on 5 January 2020. The event marks an important milestone towards the creation of ‘one nation one gas grid'.
It is an important milestone for Kerala and Karnataka as the two states are being connected by a natural gas pipeline. The pipeline will have a positive impact on the economic growth of these two states.
The pipeline will improve the ease of living in both the states and reduce the expenses of the poor, middle class and entrepreneurs.
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.
The project will provide clean energy to Mangalore Refinery and will play a major role in reducing the pollution in both the states.
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 percent to 15 percent.