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.