Centre agrees to provide VGF for North-East natural gas pipeline grid

The Prime Minister’s Office has agreed to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas’s proposal of extending 60 per cent budgetary support worth Rs 55 billion for the North-East natural gas pipeline grid project. The proposal will now be submitted to the cabinet for approval. The project involves development, operation and maintenance of a 1,656 km long natural gas pipeline connecting eight states – Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura – at an investment of Rs 100 billion. It is being implemented by Indradhanush Gas Grid Limited, a JV company of Indian Oil Corporation Limited, ONGC, GAIL (India) Limited, Oil India Limited and Numaligarh Refinery Limited.