New Town, Bypass homes to get 1st shot at piped gas
Times of India | 13 February 2025
Kolkata: The city is likely to get piped compressed natural gas (CNG) on a larger scale in 18 months from now. New Town residents will be the first to receive it, followed by the residential areas off EM Bypass, starting from Chingrighata to Garia.
Bengal Gas, a joint venture between Greater Calcutta Gas Supply and GAIL, hopes to supply CNG to New Town households in the next one-and-a-half years. From New Town, the supply line will gradually be expanded to Garia via EM Bypass, Anupam Mukhopadhyay, CEO of Bengal Gas and executive director of GAIL, said at an energy conclave organised by Assocham in the city on Wednesday.
"We hope to complete the laying of a trunk pipeline along Kalyani Expressway up to Barrackpore near Wireless More within the next year. This pipeline will cover a 32 km distance. The pipeline is already laid in a 7 km stretch along the expressway. We expect that by the middle of next year, the pipeline will reach New Town through Jessore Road via Barasat. The internal pipeline at New Town is already ready. Once the trunk pipeline reaches near the Haldiram outlet, we will be able to start the supply of CNG in New Town," Mukhopadhyay told TOI.
As per plans, the pipeline will be expanded further from New Town. The laying of the pipeline is also completed in the stretch between Chingrighata off EM Bypass and Garia, according to Mukhopadhyay.
"We anticipate that we may face challenges in extending the pipeline in the stretch between Barasat and Airport Gate No 1. We have got a nod from PWD for the work, but digging up the road in this congested area will become a problem and require permissions from other govt bodies," he said.
Currently, the Greater Kolkata region has 15 CNG stations which get supply from Panagarh. "In the next two months, the supply will come from Kalyani," Mukhopadhyay asserted.
Addressing the conclave, Barun Kumar Ray, additional chief secretary, Department of Non-Conventional and Renewable Energy Sources, said, "The state is working with Bengal Gas to explore the opportunity of producing a large amount of gas from biowaste."
State minister Md Ghulam Rabbani announced that Bengal would boost 20% of its total energy requirement from renewable sources by 2030, and that the govt was working on the solarisation of agriculture pumps. "The consumption of methane gas has increased substantially and it is expected to nearly double to touch 300 million standard cubic metres in the next two to three years, compared to the current 180 million standard cubic metres," said Mukhopadhyay.