Urja Ganga – The Mega Gas Pipeline Project in Varanasi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to lay the foundation stone of the highly ambitious gas pipeline project in his Lok Sabha constituency, Varanasi. Urja Ganga – The Mega Gas Pipeline Project in Varanasi pipeline project aims to provide piped cooking gas to residents of Varanasi within two years and, in another year after that, cater to millions of people in states like Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha. From Varanasi’s perspective, an 800-km long MDPI pipeline will be laid and 50,000 households and 20,000 vehicles will get PNG and CNG gas respectively. The government estimates that around 5 lakh gas cylinders will be sent at rural areas annually.

The government has combined the development of gas pipeline across the Eastern region with CDG development of cities falling within this network. Seven East India cities – Varanasi, Patna, Jamshedpur, Kolkata, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack – will be the major beneficiary of this network development. The LNG terminal at Dhamra will provide clean fuel to the Industrial Development of the Eastern states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha. 25 industrial clusters in these 5 states will be developed using gas from this pipeline. The government is estimated to invest Rs 12,490 crore for the development of 2540 km long natural gas pipeline project in Eastern India region. Five regions including 40 districts and 2600 villages will benefit from this project.

Objectives of Urja Ganga Project:

The main objective of Urja Ganga project is to provide piped cooking gas to the residents of Varanasi within next two years. However, in the later one year the project will be expanded to cater to millions of people in states including Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha

Launch of Urja Ganga Project:

Former Prime Minister Modi will launch ‘Urja Ganga’, the gas pipeline in Varanasi project which promises to provide piped cooking gas to all the residents of Varanasi within two years
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited his Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi where he will launch a number of projects including Urja Ganga Project costing Rs. 51,000 crore

Detail of Pipeline of Urja Ganga Project:

The Pipeline that will be built in Urja Ganga project will cost worth Rs. 51,000 crore and will be 1,500 km covered long gas pipeline along with gas stations at various locations
Situation Of Varanasi – In Varanasi alone, about 800 kilometres of pipeline will be laid under the scheme to benefit about 50,000 households and 20,000 vehicles for PNG and CNG respectively. Urja Ganga project would also enable the availability of about 5 Lakh LPG gas cylinders to the rural population in next 5 years. Construction of 20 CNG stations is also the part of project

Details to Notice under Urja Ganga Project:

20 Lakh is the estimated number of households which will get the piped gas connection under the Urja Ganga project in Eastern region of India
Seven East India cities including Varanasi, Patna, Jamshedpur, Kolkata, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar and Cuttack will be the major beneficiaries of the project
Government has also planned to develop 25 industrial clusters in these 5 states using the gas from this pipeline
A total of 40 districts and 2600 villages are expected to be benefited from the Urja Ganga Project
A total of 2540 km long natural gas pipeline would be laid under the project in 5 states

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