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Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri inaugurates floating re-fueling CNG station for boats at Ravidas Ghat

Second CNG station for boats in Varanasi

This will provide great convenience to boatmen: Hardeep Puri

Decision to set-up this floating CNG station is testament to our belief in transformative power of clean energy: Hardeep Puri

This will provide great convenience to boatmen: Hardeep Puri

Minister also interacts with girl students of GAIL Utkarsh centre

New Delhi, 28th November 2023: In a significant step towards a pollution free Varanasi, the city’s second floating Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Mobile Refueling Unit (MRU) station at Ravidas Ghat was inaugurated today by Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Housing and Urban Affairs Shri Hardeep Singh Puri. This is the country’s second such station built to fill CNG in boats, after the Namo Ghat CNG station here.

Both the stations have been developed by GAIL (India) Limited, a Maharatna PSU under the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas. GAIL Chairman & Managing Director Shri Sandeep Kumar Gupta, Director (Human Resources) Shri Ayush Gupta, Director (Marketing) Shri Sanjay Kumar and a host of dignitaries were present on the occasion.

With this, floating CNG stations for boats are now operational on both sides of the main Ghats of Varanasi. The floating stations have been developed by GAIL at a cost of approx. Rs 17.5 crore.

In a world grappling with environmental challenges and the urgent need to transition to cleaner, more sustainable energy sources, the inauguration of the second floating infrastructure in Varanasi is a significant step towards viable sustainable energy solutions, Shri Puri said.

“The decision to set-up this floating CNG station is a testament to our belief in the transformative power of clean energy,” the Minister said.

Speaking about the significance of CNG station at Ravidas Ghat, Shri Puri noted that this will provide great convenience to boatmen as they will not have to go all the way to NaMo Ghat for refueling, thus saving time and money. “On an average, it is estimated that each boatman can potentially save over Rs.36,000 per year by using CNG as fuel”, said the Minister.

For many years, the boatmen at Varanasi Ghats have been using old and less efficient petrol and diesel engines which are now being replaced by new CNG engines along with kits leading to improved fuel efficiency. Under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative, GAIL has entered into an agreement with Varanasi Nagar Nigam (VNN) for conversion of boats to the environment-friendly fuel CNG.

Till date, 735 such boats out of 890 registered with VNN have been converted to CNG under GAIL’s CSR program at a cost of Rs 18 crore.

The floating CNG Mother station at Namo Ghat, the first of its kind in the world, has been operational since December 2021. The compression capacity of this station is around 15,000 kg/day of CNG which can fill approximately 1,000 – 1,500 boats per day. Boats presently plying in Varanasi have a seating capacity of 15 to 80 persons with engine power 5 to 20 HP. GAIL recently won the prestigious ‘Midstream Project of the Year - India’ award at the Asian Oil and Gas Awards event for this project.

The new station at Ravidas Ghat is a CNG Mobile Refueling Unit (MRU), i.e., CNG will be filled in cascades from Namo Ghat and transported by water ways to Ravidas Ghat for fueling boats. This is also first of its kind in the world. It has a capacity of 4,000 kg/day, which can cater to 300 to 400 boats per day.

As CNG is more efficient fuel than diesel, it leads to significant savings for the boatmen who estimate that they are getting 35-40% more mileage due to replacement of old diesel engines with efficient CNG engines (1 kg of CNG is energy equivalent to 1.39 litres of petrol and 1.18 litres of diesel). On an average, it is estimated that each boatman can save potentially Rs 36,000 year by using CNG as fuel.

CNG is safer and less polluting and generates significantly less nitrous oxides (NOx) and sulphur oxides (Sox) as compared to diesel. It produces less smoke from exhaust as compared to diesel and is almost odourless, providing health benefits and comfort to boatmen and tourists while decreasing pollution in the holy river Ganga and atmosphere. Reduction in engine noise compare to diesel engine due to less vibration of the boats adds to the stability and comfort for the tourists enjoying the boat rides.

GAIL has invested over Rs 350 crore for creating CGD infrastructure in Varanasi and another Rs 100 crore will be spent by 2024. The Varanasi CGD project is part of the prestigious Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga project and was inaugurated by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in 2018.

Apart from these two floating CNG stations, GAIL also operates 24 CNG stations and another 13 CNG stations work is in progress for supplying the environment friendly fuel to more than 8,000 four-wheelers, 17,000 three-wheelers and around 100 buses. GAIL is also providing piped natural gas (D-PNG) to over 32,000 households, 61 commercial units like hotels and restaurants and 13 industrial units. PNG connectivity to another 40,000 households is in progress.

Later, Shri Puri interacted with the students at the Varanasi centre of GAIL Utkarsh, a CSR initiative of the company to provide to all-expenses paid residential coaching to 60 meritorious girls from economically weaker sections to compete for Engineering and Medical entrance examinations.

The Varanasi centre, started in 2021-22, inspired by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision for 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao', is the GAIL’s first ‘all girls’ centre and the first such centre to provide coaching for dual streams of Engineering and Medical Entrance examinations to 60 girls from Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. In 2022-23, 28 out of 30 girls qualified JEE Mains exam and 29 out of 30 girls qualified NEET exam.

In a world grappling with environmental challenges and the urgent need to transition to cleaner, more sustainable energy sources, the inauguration of the second floating infrastructure in Varanasi is a significant step towards viable sustainable energy solutions, said Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Housing & Urban Affairs. He inaugurated the Varanasi’s second floating CNG dispensing station at Ravidas Ghat today. “The decision to set-up this floating CNG station is a testament to our belief in the transformative power of clean energy”, the Minister said.

Speaking about the significance of CNG station at Ravidas Ghat, Shri Puri noted that this will provide great convenience to boatmen as they will not have to go all the way to NaMo Ghat for refueling, thus saving time and money.

Talking about the benefits of CNG boats for the fishermen and for the environment, Shri Puri said that the CNG boats not only reduce pollution but also operating their boats on CNG is leading to significant savings for boatmen as CNG is more efficient fuel than liquid fuel. They are getting 35-40% more mileage due to replacement of old engines with efficient CNG engines (1 kg of CNG is energy equivalent to 1.39 litres of petrol and 1.18 litres of diesel), he mentioned.

“On an average, it is estimated that each boatman can potentially save over Rs.36,000 per year by using CNG as fuel”, said the Minister.