With a shared vision of a Clean Energy Future, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, MK Stalin, on July 20, unveiled the Rs 1,700 crore City Gas Distribution (CGD) infrastructure investment commitment for Chennai, Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu districts by AG&P Pratham, the CGD arm of Atlantic Gulf & Pacific (AG&P), Singapore, a leading global downstream gas and LNG logistics company. On the occasion, the CM laid the foundation stone for AG&P Pratham’s second City Gate and Mother Station in the State at Vallam-Sriperumbudur, Kancheepuram and inaugurated the commissioning of its first Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) station at Meenambakkam, Chennai.
AG&P Pratham’s City Gate Station will receive natural gas directly from IOCL’s natural gas pipeline and the Mother Station will take the uninterrupted supply of the clean fuel to distribute to industrial, commercial and domestic consumers through a Piped Natural Gas (PNG) and CNG distribution network, opening up a new era of clean, efficient fuel for the State. CNG is a non-toxic and safer fuel that offers significantly improved mileage and a reduction in maintenance costs with a reported increase in savings of up to 40-50 percent for CNG-fueled auto-rickshaw drivers, taxi drivers and car rental owners. Similarly, the PNG equivalent of a 14.2 kg domestic LPG gas cylinder, offers savings of up to 30-40 percent in the non-subsidised and 20-30 percent in the subsidised category.
Speaking at the occasion, Abhilesh Gupta, Managing Director, AG&P Pratham, said, “We are honoured to collaborate with the Government of Tamil Nadu to establish the city gas infrastructure in the industrial hub of Tamil Nadu, and bring this safe and environmentally-friendly alternative to our customers. Our second City Gate and Mother Station in the State will provide power plants, industrial, commercial and domestic consumers uninterrupted access to this competitive fuel. In addition, over the next eight years, as part of our investment commitment, we will be commissioning a network of 113 CNG stations and installing 11,50,000 domestic PNG connections in a part of Chennai, Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu districts. We are focused on achieving the State’s mission to transform into a gas-based economy and hope that the wide availability of natural gas will spur even more manufacturing while simultaneously generating employment for over 3,400 people and trigger overall economic and social progress with healthier air.”
Also Read: Tamil Nadu Govt reshuffles 8 IAS officers
In February 2021, AG&P Pratham signed an MoU with the Government of Tamil Nadu to invest Rs 2,700 crore over the next eight years to build CGD networks in the districts of Chennai, Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu, Vellore, Ranipet, Thirupathur and Ramanathapuram. Of this, AG&P committed to investing Rs 1,700 crore for establishing the CGD infrastructure in a part of Chennai, Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu districts, the industrial hub of Tamil Nadu.
Since 2018, AG&P Pratham was awarded three concessional areas comprising of six districts and a part of Chennai in Tamil Nadu by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) for the development of CGD infrastructure and natural gas market. AG&P will be supplying PNG to 20 lakh households, 10,000 commercial establishments, 150 industrial enterprises and operate over 200 CNG stations in the State in coming years.
