Oil ministry to save costs on pipelines using Gati Shakti
NEW DELHI : The ministry of petroleum and natural gas plans to substantially reduce spending on the laying of gas pipelines by leveraging the extensive infrastructure data from the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (PMGS-NMP). The PMGS-NMP is a digital platform that maps all infrastructure projects, and contains critical information ranging from rail, port, and road connectivity to gas pipelines and optic fibre in India. It is overseen by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).
Currently, the petroleum ministry aims to build about 1,000 km of pipelines using the PM Gati Shakti portal, while several new projects are being planned, two officials aware of the matter said, requesting not to be named. So far, the ministry has been able to save ₹169 crore by reducing the length of the proposed five pipelines for the North East Gas Grid (NEGG) by 42 km. Besides, it has planned Mumbai-Nagpur-Jharsuguda pipeline project, for which 700 km of land along the road has been mapped with the help of PM Gati Shakti, one of the two officials said.
“We also have plans for a 50-km Indo-Nepal pipeline between Siliguri and Jhapa in Nepal. It will meet demand for eastern Nepal as well as India, and was planned using the NMP portal. About 35 km of the Siliguri-Jhapa pipeline will be in India and 15 km in Nepal," said the official, adding that the department saved about 22 km of forest areas.
The Siliguri-Jhapa pipeline would entail a cost of about ₹300 crore. Other pipeline projects planned under PM Gati Shakti include a 1,194-km-long Mundra-Panipat pipeline, and a 175-km-long Gurdaspur-Jammu natural gas pipeline, the second official said. The PMGS-NMP portal is proving to be rather helpful for the ministry.
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