Rourkela: Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Jual Oram today inaugurated a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) station of GAIL Gas Limited here.

The CNG station located at Chhend Ring Road, one of the prime locations of Rourkela will give a fillip for building up of eco-friendly mobility network in the steel city of Rourkela, an official said.

The Minister also filled up the first auto-rickshaw with the environment friendly fuel and interacted with the auto-rickshaw drivers.

The authorization presented to GAIL Gas Limited in Odisha at Sundargarh and Jharsuguda Districts was given through 9th round of PNGRB Bidding. CGD Project of Sundergarh – Jharsuguda District will supply Compressed Natural Gas for transport Sector, Piped Natural Gas for Households, Industries & Commercial Units.

The Project which will cover 12130.70 sq. kms area in the district will include 22 charge areas namely Lahunipara, Laikera, Hemgir, Lephripara, Balisankara, Tangarapali, Sundergarh, Subhdega, Baragaon, Kutra, Rajagangapur, Kuannmunda, Nuagaon, Bisra, Lathikata, Gurundia, Baneigarh, Koida, Lakhanpur, Jharsuguda, Kirimira, and Kolabira.

The total investment for the project is Rs. 944 cr. for initial 25 years. The district will have 20 CNG stations and approximately 1,00,000 households connected with Piped Natural Gas. A network of 500 inch kms will be laid in the district, benefiting 41 Lacs of population. The supply of Piped Natural Gas to industries and commercial units will also help in reduction of pollution in the Powerhouse city. The main source pipeline for the CGD project will be GAIL’s Jagdishpur- Haldia- Dhamra- Bokaro Pipeline, the official added.

A. K. Jana, Chief Executive Officer, GAIL Gas Limited, Rajeev Garg, Chief Operating Officer, GAIL Gas Limited and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.