Maha: BPCL to invest Rs 4,000 cr for gas distribution project in Aurangabad, Ahmednagar

Union Minister Dr Bhagwat Karad on Tuesday said Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) has launched a gas distribution network in Aurangabad and Ahmednagar districts of Maharashtra and will invest Rs 4,000 crore for the completion of the project. The minister of state for finance was addressing a press conference with the BPCL officials here.

The ground-breaking ceremony of the project will be held in Aurangabad on Wednesday, for which Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri will remain present through video conferencing, Dr Karad said.

"The work on the gas distribution network line work is underway from Srigonda in Ahmednagar to Aurangabad. The ceremony will be the commencement of distribution line in Aurangabad city. By December, gas will be supplied through pipeline to households in the city," the minister said.


Talking to reporters, BPCL's executive director (gas) Sukhmal Jain said that the company will spend around Rs 1,600 crore in the next five years and a total of Rs 4,000 crore for completion of the project.

"Despite the COVID-19 pandemic in the last two years, the company has already started laying steel pipeline for the development of PNG and CNG in two districts. BPCL has set up 21 CNG stations (15 in Ahmednagar and six in Aurangabad) and work for 40 more is underway in both the districts," Jain said.

The company plans to connect 3 lakh customers in the first phase and seven lakh in the next five years, Jain said.