Manoj Jain, Chairman and MD, GAIL India Ltd., on Saturday said that as many as 28 cities and towns in Karnataka will get liquefied natural gas (LNG) for domestic, industrial and automobile consumption through the city gas distribution system in about a year.
He was speaking at a virtual press conference to announce the inauguration of the 450-km Kochi-Kottanad-Mangaluru LNG pipeline on January 5 at the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Cities around Bengaluru and Mangaluru would first get LNG through CGD followed by other cities and towns. Work on CGD has already commenced in many of these localities, he added. Bengaluru would also get LNG from Kochi terminal from Kottanad via Tamil Nadu, he added.
Mr. Jain said LNG would be cheaper, safer and cleaner compared to other sources of energy. There would be considerable reduction in cost when LNG was used for domestic, automobile and industrial purposes. The fuel was less polluting too thereby contributing to environment conservation, he added. Allying fears among public that transporting LNG through pipelines would be dangerous, Mr. Jain said pipelines were constructed according to international safety standards and there were few chances of gas leakage. Moreover, LNG was lighter than air and dissolved immediately if it comes out in to the open and as such, there was no threat even if there were leaks, he said.
GAIL Directors E.S. Ranganathan (Marketing) and M.V. Iyer (Business Development) were present.
