gail (india) is planning a city gas distribution (cgd) project in dist. varanasi, uttar pradesh. foundation stone for the project was laid on 24th october, 2016. the laying of the foundation stone heralds the start of construction of the cgd project which will bring eco-friendly fuel natural gas to households, vehicles and industries in varanasi. the project is part of the companys jagdishpur-haldia and bokaro-dhamra pipeline project (jhbdpl), popularly known as urja ganga. the varanasi cgd project will be developed simultaneously with the jhbdpl project. the project, with an estimated capital investment of rs. 10,000 million, is expected to connect 50,000 households with piped natural gas (png) and provide compressed natural gas (cng) to 20,000 vehicles through 20 cng stations. about 800 km of steel and medium density polyethylene (mdpe) will be laid in the city as part of the project. the 2,540 km jhbdpl project is being executed at an investment of rs. 129,400 million, which includes 40 capital grant (i.e. rs. 51,760 million) from the government of india. it will pass through five states, i.e. uttar pradesh, bihar, jharkhand, odisha and west bengal, covering 40 districts. gail has also been entrusted with developing cgd network in seven cities enroute the pipeline, i.e., varanasi, patna, jamshedpur, kolkata, ranchi, bhubaneswar and cuttack. [info as of: nov. 16]
