The Kochi – Mangaluru natural gas pipeline ticks several boxes for India from sel reliance to meeting its climate goals.
Prime Minister Modi’s ‘One Nation One Gas Grid’ took one giant leap on Tuesday with the inauguration of the Kochi – Mangaluru Natural Gas Pipeline. ”The pipeline would improve the ease of living in both the states and reduce the expenses of the poor, middle class and entrepreneurs of both the states,” the PM said inaugurating the project via video conferencing.
The pipeline would become the base of the Gas Distribution System in many cities and would form the base of the CNG based transport system in these cities. It would provide clean energy to Mangalore Refinery and would play a major role in reducing the pollution in both the states,” he added.
The 450-km Kochi-Mangaluru natural gas pipeline built by GAIL (India) Ltd, will carry environment-friendly and affordable fuel in the form of Piped Natural Gas (PNG) to households and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) to the transportation sector from the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Regasification Terminal at Kochi (Kerala) to Mangaluru (Dakshina Kannada district, Karnataka) while passing through Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod districts. The pipeline will also supply natural gas to commercial and industrial units across the districts.
India is currently using only 6 per cent of the world’s primary energy while the per capita consumption of energy is still one-third of the global average. Recent studies have estimated that the world’s total primary energy demand would increase at less than 1 per cent per annum till 2040. On the other hand, India’s energy demand would grow at about 3 per cent per annum till 2040. In order to meet the rapid expansion of energy consumption and a need for robust energy security, the Modi government has been consciously making a move towards a gas-based economy.
Addressing the Stanford Alumni Group on “The Future of Energy in India” Dharmendra Pradhan, India’s Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas said,
“We have pushed up the consumption levels of gas hard—as a result, we see rapid penetration and expansion of natural gas in the country. We believe that the proactive model that we have adopted is suited for India’s present development journey. We are working towards achieving the renewables target of 450 GW by 2030, increasing the contribution of electricity to de-carbonise mobility, moving into the emerging fuels, including hydrogen, and emphasising on digital innovation across energy systems.”
The Modi government announced its plans for a $60 billion investment for creating gas infrastructure in the country till 2024 and add approximately 17,000 kms of gas pipelines in the eastern and north-eastern states. In addition, India’s first automated national-level gas trading platform was launched in June this year to promote and sustain an efficient and robust gas market and foster gas trading in the country.
The Kochi – Mangaluru Natural Gas pipeline ticks several boxes for India. It is a major step towards Modi’s vision of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ or Self-reliant India and the move towards raising the share of natural gas in India’s energy mix from the current level of 6.2 per cent to 15 per cent by 2030. It also helps India in its push to address climate change and move towards a cleaner energy resources. The consumption of cleaner fuel will also help in improving air quality by curbing air pollution, a problem that has long plagued India’s major metropolis’ including its capital.