Narendra Modi to inaugurate Kochi-Mangaluru natural gas pipeline over video conference today

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate the Kochi-Mangaluru natural gas pipeline to the nation on Tuesday via video conferencing. The event will mark an important milestone towards the creation of ‘‘one nation, one gas grid’’, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement on Sunday. The 450-km-long pipeline has been built by Gail (India) Ltd. It has transportation capacity of 12 million metric standard cubic metres per day and will carry natural gas from the liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification terminal in Kochi to Mangaluru, passing through Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod districts, the PMO noted. The total cost of the project was about Rs 3,000 crore and its construction created over 12 lakh man-days of employment. The pipeline will supply environment friendly and affordable fuel in the form of piped natural gas (PNG) to households and compressed natural gas (CNG) to the transportation sector. It will also supply natural gas to commercial and industrial units across the districts along the pipeline, the statement said, adding that the consumption of cleaner fuel will help in improving air quality by curbing air pollution.