URJA GANGA YOJANA

Energy and gas have great influence on the economics of a nation as lot as industry depends upon fuel. Industry is the backbone of any country. So, if country has proper fuel resources, then growth is sure. By keeping this kind of thinking in mind Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched one of such scheme during his visit to his Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi. The project named “Urja Ganga” gas pipeline project which was launched on 24th October 2016.

About Urja Ganga Yojana

Urja Ganga is one of the most ambitious projects of  Narendra Modi Government. Urja Ganga project is a gas pipeline project for the distribution of cooking gas to residents of the city of Varanasi.

Objectives:

• The scheme is directed to provide piped cooking gas to the households of Varanasi within next two years and to million others in neighbour states after one more year.
• Set up of 20 CNG stations for the vehicle is also part of this project to solve the problem of diesel and petrol.

Estimation:

• The allocated budget for laying the 1,500 km covered long cooking gas pipelines is about Rs. 51,000-crore along with gas stations at various areas.

Details under Urja Ganga Yojana Project

• 20 Lakh is the estimated number of households which will get the piped gas connection under the Urja Ganga Yojana project in Eastern region of India.
• Seven East India cities including Varanasi, Patna, Jamshedpur, Kolkatta, Ranchi, Bhubaneshwar and Cuttack will be the major beneficiaries of the project.
• 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. 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 benefited from the Urja Ganga project.
• A total of 2540 km long natural gas pipeline would be laid under the project in 5 states.

Highlights of the scheme:

• The government estimates that around 5 lakh gas cylinders will be sent at rural areas annually.
• According to GAIL, with the Urja Ganga project, 20 lakh households will get PNG connections.
• GAIL has built a network of trunk pipelines covering the length of around 11,000 km.
• With Urja Ganga project, this number will further increase by 2540 km.
• Work on the 2540-km long Jagdishpur-Haldia and Bokaro-Dhamra Natural Gas pipeline project will begin and will be completed between 2018 and 2020.
• GAIL is investing Rs 570 crores for laying over 129 km pipelines in four district of Varanasi division under this project.

Length of gas pipeline in different state:

• The state of UP gets the gas line of length 338 KM.
• Bihar state will get about 441 km long line.
• Jharkhand, a state in east India, gets 500 KM long.
• Another state in eastern India, West Bengal will have the pipe line of length 542 KM.
• Odisha gets benefited by 718 KM pipe line.

Targets:

• A lot of population lives in these states where cooking gas is scarcely available in the remote areas. An estimation to serve 50,000 households is planned to get PNG and almost 20,000 vehicles will be able to get CNG gas per year.
• It encompasses 40 districts and 2600 villages which will get the direct benefit.
• The project is estimated to get complete in 2020, after which people can get gas supply at their houses itself. It can also give lot of benefits to help renewal of a number of declining fertilizer industrialized units and other sectors like Power and Automotive.
• In this scheme not only households but about half a million vehicles may switch over to CNG mode so that the problem of fuel in the country could be resolved.
• Prime Minister Modi also laid a foundation stone for the 120 km long Varanasi-Allahabad railway line that will cost approximate Rs 750.66 crore and provide speedy transit for cylinder and worker movements.