People of erstwhile Karimnagar to soon get piped natural gas supply 

Besides for domestic purposes, piped gas will also be supplied for commercial operations too

Peddapalli: People of the erstwhile Karimnagar district are likely to get piped natural gas supply in the near future. Besides for domestic purposes, piped gas will also be supplied for commercial operations too.

In this regard, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) has accorded the contract to Indian Oil Corporation Limited. IOCL, which has already started the work, is going to implement the project on a pilot basis in the Ramagundam Fertilizers and Chemicals Limited (RFCL) township.

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Initially, 426 houses located in the township will be supplied with piped natural gas. Later, this will be expanded to the Ramagundam coal belt town including Godavarikhani, NTPC and other areas.

For this purpose, a gas station has also been constructed at RFCL which is going to start functioning in a fortnight. Though construction of the gas station is almost completed, laying of pipes in the residential quarters is not yet finished.

Since RFCL is a gas-based urea production unit, gas is being supplied to the plant from the Kakinada (Krishna-Godavari basin) of Andhra Pradesh. The same gas will be diverted through a pipeline and will be supplied to Karimnagar, Peddapalli, Jagtial and Rajanna-Sircilla districts.

As part of the union government’s plans to supply natural gas to houses through pipelines across the country, the PNGRB had invited tenders from different organizations to supply gas in Telangana.

While Megha Engineering Company got the tender to supply gas to 13 districts, IOCL secured the old Karimnagar district, Mahanagar Gas Private Limited got Adilabad and Torrent Gas got Siddipet, Medak and Sangareddy districts.

As part of the project, IOCL has already laid a pipeline up to Kundanapalli on the outskirts of Ramagundam. In the next phase, the pipeline will be laid up to Peddapalli after getting permission from the Road and Buildings department.

Speaking to Telangana Today, IOCL senior manager and Old Karimnagar in-charge, Shyam Sunder, said steel pipes were being laid along highways to withstand high pressure since heavy pressure gas would be supplied in main lines. On the other hand, medium density polyethylene pipes would be laid in domestic areas.

After completion of the pilot project in RFCL, they would implement it in nearby areas such as Shanthinagar, Markandeya Colony and others. Talks are also being held with the managements of Singareni and NTPC to supply piped gas to their residential quarters.

Besides residences, piped gas would also be supplied to commercial establishments such as hotels and small industries. Compared to liquid petroleum gas (LPG), natural gas was safer and available at prices 40 percent lesser than that of LPG, he informed.