Chennai: “Indian Oil Corporation, will over a period of ten years, set up 270 CNG stations in Coimbatore and around 150 in Salem as a part of the country-wide City Gas Distribution (CGD) project to be launched on 22 November,” executive director – Marketing, Indian Oil, R Sitharthan.
The CGD project to be launched by PM Narendra Modi will be an interconnected network of pipelines for supply of CNG to domestic, industrial and commercial premises and CNG stations.
Sitharthan said IOCL had bagged tenders to implement the CGD project in Salem and Coimbatore in Tamilnadu. Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Ramanathapuram and Tiruppur are some of the other districts which would get CGD network.
Major companies in the energy sector like Adani Gas Limited, Torrent Gas Private Limited have won bids for implementing the project in the State.
The project aims to reduce carbon emissions in the country by 33 per cent by 2030 in honour of the commitment made by India in the COP21 Paris Convention.
Sitharthan said, “Fuel cost could be cut by 40 per cent if vehicles start using CNG. In Gujarat and Delhi, a large percentage of vehicles already use CNG. Around 25 per cent of Gujarat’s energy needs are met by natural gas. But if we take India as a whole, it is only 6.2 per cent as against 23.4 per cent natural gas usage percentage globally.”
The project would be implemented in 129 districts across India. The next bidding round for 124 more districts to come under the project will also be held on the 22 November.