Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated Kochi – Mangaluru Natural Gas Pipeline to the Nation through a video conference today. The event marks an important milestone towards the creation of ‘One Nation One Gas Grid’. Governors and Chief Ministers of Karnataka and Kerala, along with Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas were also present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister termed this day as an important milestone for both the people of Kerala and Karnataka as the two states are being connected by a natural gas pipeline. He said the pipeline will have a positive impact on the economic growth of these two states. He said the rapid expansion of the Gas based economy is a must to achieve self-reliant India and cited this as the reason behind Government’s push for ‘One Nation One Gas Grid’.

While listing the advantages of the pipeline, he said that the pipeline would improve the ease of living in both the states and reduce the expenses of the poor, middle class and entrepreneurs of both the states.

He said the pipeline would become the base of the Gas Distribution System in many cities and would form the base of the CNG based transport system in these cities. He said the pipeline would provide clean energy to Mangalore Refinery and would play a major role in reducing the pollution in both the states.

He added the reduction of pollution will have a direct impact on the environment akin to planting millions of trees which would help in improving people’s health and reducing their health-related expenditure. He said that less pollution and clean air would attract more tourists to the city.

He added that the construction of this pipeline has generated 1.2 million man-days of employment and would develop a new ecosystem of employment and self-employment after its commissioning which would help the fertilizer, petrochemical and power sectors. It will also help India in saving thousands of crores of Foreign exchange for the country.

The Prime Minister laid out his vision of fast and balanced coastal area development. He said that a comprehensive plan for the development of the blue economy in the coastal states like Karnataka, Kerala and other South Indian states is under implementation.

He said the Blue Economy is going to be an important source of Aatamnirbhar India.