Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate the Ramanathapuram - Thoothukudi natural gas pipeline and Gasoline desulfurization unit at Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited to the nation on Wednesday. He will also lay the foundation of Cauvery Basin Refinery at Nagapattinam.
Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas and Steel, and other Members of Parliament will also participate via videoconferencing. Managing director (in-charge) Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited, Rajeev Ailawadi, SS Sawant, director, Southern Region Pipelines, Indian Oil Corporation and executive director of Indian Oil Corporation (TN-state) P Jayadevan said at a press conference on Monday.
The event marks another milestone towards the Energy Aatmanirbharta. Ramanathapuram - Thoothukudi section (143 km) of the Ennore-Thiruvallur-Bengaluru-Puducherry-Nagapattinam-Madurai-Thoothukudi Natural Gas pipeline (ETBPNMTPL) will be laid at Rs 700 crore. The Gasoline Desulfurization unit at CPCL, Manali has been constructed at about Rs 500 crore. The gasoline desulfurization unit at CPCL, Manali refinery shall produce low sulphur- (less than 8 ppm) environment-friendly gasoline- which will reduce emission.
The grass-root refinery with 9 million tonnes per annum capacity is to be set up at Nagapattinam by a joint venture between Indian Oil and CPCL at an estimated cost of Rs 31,500 crore. It will produce Motor Spirit and Diesel meeting BS-VI specifications, and Polypropylene as a value-added product. These projects would result in substantial socio-economic benefits and shall aid the development of various transport and communication facilities, education facilities.
How will it work
The pipeline shall utilise the gas from ONGC Gas fields and deliver indigenous natural gas as feedstock to Southern Petrochemical Industries Corporation (SPIC) at Thoothukudi.