The Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), which is implementing the city gas distribution network, has laid the underground natural gas pipeline for up to 75km in the district.
IOCL won the licence for the city gas distribution network in the district in the ninth round of bidding that the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board held in August 2018. Under the project, IOCL would lay the underground gas pipeline for 212km, develop 273 CNG stations and provide 9,12,783 domestic piped natural gas connections.
H Suresh, manager, district chapter of IOCL, said they were working on laying the underground gas pipeline on Avinashi Road and Trichy Road, where the flyover work was underway. “We hope to supply piped natural gas to the households on Kurichi-Malumichampatti stretch by the end of this year.”
Recently, IOCL had inaugurated a city gate station cum mother station for compressed natural gas at Pichanur. It is equipped with a pressure reduction-cum-regulating skid that has a capacity of 13,000 standard cubic metres per hour. After its inauguration, IOCL reduced the price for compressed natural gas by Rs. 5 in the district.
According to Suresh, they have plans to expand the CNG network in the district to 41 stations by the end of the current fiscal. Referring to the customers converting their vehicles to CNG, he said the same must be done through an RTO approved retro fitment centre. “Later, they have to update their insurance and endorse their registration certificate.
