Kolkata: The Bengal Gas Co Ltd (BGCL) has begun supplying piped natural gas (PNG) in Chandernagore, the second town after Kalyani in the KMDA area. The supply started on July 10, and the company aims to provide 500 connections in the next two months, officials said.
“We began supplying PNG in Chandernagore last week. We have installed gas meters in 500 kitchens in Chandernagore so far, and all will have supplies in the next 60 days,” BGCL CEO Anupam Mukherjee said on Monday.
BGCL, a joint venture between GAIL and the state govt-owned Greater Calcutta Gas Supply Corporation, has so far laid 58.8 km of gas pipeline infrastructure across nine wards in Chandernagore. The company aims to construct more than 100 km of pipeline network to cover the entire Chandernagore Municipal Corporation area in the next one year.
On being asked how the company was confident to construct such a large network, especially when it took nearly two years to lay 58.8 km of pipeline, Mukherjee replied, “Earlier, obtaining approval on time was a major obstacle for us. But now we are getting help from all authorities, and obtaining approval is not a major issue.”
BGCL is distributing PNG in Chandernagore after transporting the gas from Rajarambati in Hooghly district. The GAIL pipeline from Durgapur has been laid till Gayeshpur in Nadia via Rajarambati, near Mogra in Hooghly. BGCL is responsible for laying the main pipeline from Rajarambati to Dankuni to supply CNG and PNG to its consumers in Hooghly and Howrah districts.
“Our target is to begin PNG supply in Chinsurah in Oct this year, and by March 2027 we will install 25,000 gas meters in total,” Mukherjee added.
The company launched PNG supply in Kalyani last Nov, marking the first such service in the KMDA area, and in Debanandapur gram panchayat in June 2026. BGCL has so far installed 2,629 gas meters in Kalyani township and Debanandapur.