At least 5,000 houses in Hubballi-Dharwad will get piped natural gas (PNG) by 2019, according to Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan.
Speaking after the inauguration of gas flow into the GAIL’s (Gas Authority of India Limited) Hubballi-Dharwad spur-line here on Sunday, the minister said that he would take the responsibility of making sure that at least 5,000 houses get piped gas in two-three years, no matter who gets the bid for the gas supply in the twin-cities. The bid to supply PNG here will be opened on April 24.
The Union government has set itself a target to provide natural gas connection to nearly one crore houses across India by 2019. “Our government aims at providing clean and green energy to the people so that it protects the health of people and also our environment.” He said, the Union government was ready to purchase any quantity of ethanol from sugarcane farmers, including those in Karnataka, at a minimum price of Rs 48 per litre. “This is part of our attempts at encouraging bio-fuel manufacturing in the country,” he said.
Skill centre
Later, in Mangaluru, at the dedication of a Polypropylene unit at the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) 3rd Phase, he said a world class skill development centre will be set up in the coastal city.
“Various departments are formulating their own strategies on skill development. In the hydrocarbon sector alone, 136 skills have been identified. The hydrocarbon presence is huge here with MRPL, ONGC Mangalore Petrochemicals Limited (OMPL), Mangalore Special Economic Zone Limited (SEZ) and Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited (ISPRL) operating in the region. Looking at the potential in the hydro carbon sector, the MRPL will coordinate with all other departments, the State government and the Centre in setting up the skill development centre. A consultant will be appointed to look into the concerned areas and submit a detailed report on the same,” he said.
Production capacity
MRPL Managing Director H Kumar said that the production capacity of the Polypropylene unit is 4.40 lakh metric tonne per annum and was set up at an estimated cost of Rs 1,803 crore.
The project was delayed for a year owing to the non availability of land. The unit is ready to meet the demand for polypropylene in the whole of South Indian market. The polypropylene will be used as a major raw material for the downstream plastic industry, he said.