National Gas Grid

Also called: One Nation One Gas Grid · Topic: Energy Resources of India: Conventional and Non-conventional · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 5 "Minerals and Energy Resources"; Class 10, Ch 7 "Lifelines of National Economy"; Class 12, Ch 5 "Mineral and Energy Resources"; Class 12, Ch 7 "Transport and Communication"

Meaning

The National Gas Grid ("One Nation One Grid") is one connected network of trunk (main) gas pipelines across India. It will link every gas source, meaning domestic gas fields and LNG import terminals, to every market, including eastern India and the North-East [2].

• Why it matters: India's gas mostly lands on the west coast, but people and industries who need it are spread across the country. The grid lets gas reach any place where there is demand. This helps city gas networks spread, brings closed fertiliser plants back to work and reduces gaps between regions.

Explanation

Why a grid was needed (cause → process → result)

• Cause: gas sources are on one side of the country
• Most gas comes from sedimentary basins (thick layers of sand and mud) on the west coast offshore, at Mumbai High and Bassein, and in Gujarat, in the Cambay basin.
• Most of the LNG terminals are also on the west coast, in Gujarat.

• But the big users, such as fertiliser plants in the Ganga plains, are far inland.

• Process: pipelines move the gas

• A pipeline is the cheapest and safest way to move gas over long distances on land.
• Large trunk pipelines carry gas across the country.

• Smaller spur lines (branch lines) and tie-in lines (connecting lines) take it to towns and factories.

• Result: an imbalance, which the grid now fixes

• For a long time, gas use stayed in the western and northern belt along the first pipeline.
• The National Gas Grid joins all the separate lines into one network, so gas can flow to the east and North-East too.

How the network grew

• Step 1: the HVJ pipeline
• The Hazira–Vijaipur–Jagdishpur (HVJ) pipeline was India's first cross-country trunk gas pipeline. It is about 1,700 km long and was built by GAIL (Gas Authority of India Ltd).

• It carried Mumbai High and Bassein gas to fertiliser and power plants in western and northern India.

• Step 2: expansion

• NCERT records that the network grew from 1,700 km to 18,500 km.
• Operational pipeline length rose from 15,340 km in 2014 to 25,429 km as on June 2025 [2].
• Another 10,459 km is under execution, which means it is being built [2].

• PNGRB (Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board) has authorised about 34,233 km of pipeline in total. This includes trunk, spur and tie-in lines [2].

• Step 3: reaching the east and North-East

• Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga takes the grid to eastern India.
• The Indradhanush North-East Gas Grid takes it to all eight north-eastern states.

Parts of the grid and what they feed

• Gas inputs:
• Domestic fields: Mumbai High, Bassein, Cambay and the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin.

• LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas): gas cooled to about –162 °C so that it becomes a liquid. Ships bring it to a terminal, where it is regasified (warmed back into gas) and fed into the grid.

• Trunk lines: HVJ, Urja Ganga and the North-East grid.

• Outputs (users):
• Fertiliser plants, where methane is the main input for making urea.
• Gas-based power stations.
• Industry, such as glass, ceramics and steel furnaces.

• City gas distribution (CGD): local pipe networks that supply CNG to vehicles and PNG to kitchens.

• Coverage of city gas: PNGRB has authorised 307 Geographical Areas (GAs), which can cover about 100% of India's area and population [3]. As on 30 September 2024, there were 1.36 crore PNG (domestic) connections and 7,259 CNG stations [3].

Where it occurs

• Who runs it: GAIL laid the first trunk line (HVJ) and is building Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga. PNGRB authorises pipelines and CGD areas. The North-East grid is built by Indradhanush Gas Grid Ltd (IGGL), a joint venture of five CPSEs (Central Public Sector Enterprises): IOCL, ONGC, GAIL, OIL and NRL [6].
• HVJ route: Hazira (Gujarat) → Vijaipur (Madhya Pradesh) → Jagdishpur (Uttar Pradesh).
• Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga:
• Route: Jagdishpur (UP) – Haldia (West Bengal) – Bokaro (Jharkhand) – Dhamra (Odisha), later extended towards Barauni – Guwahati.
• Length: 2,650 km as first planned. It serves 5 states, 40 districts and 2,600 villages [4]. NCERT-linked sources give about 3,300 km after extensions.
• The 348 km Dobhi–Durgapur section was dedicated to the nation in February 2021 [5].

• It supplies revived fertiliser plants at Gorakhpur, Barauni and Sindri. It also brings city gas to Varanasi, Patna, Ranchi, Kolkata and Bhubaneswar.

• North-East Gas Grid (Indradhanush):

• 1,656 km long, with an estimated cost of about ₹9,265 crore [6].
• It covers Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura [6].
• It joins the national grid at Guwahati through the Barauni–Guwahati line.

• In 2020, the Cabinet approved Viability Gap Funding (VGF) for it [6]. VGF is a government grant that makes a project worth building when it would not earn enough on its own.

• Gas sources feeding the grid:

• Mumbai High and Bassein: Arabian Sea, about 160 km off Mumbai.
• Cambay basin: onshore Gujarat, at Ankleshwar and Kalol.
• KG-D6: deep-water block in the Bay of Bengal off Andhra Pradesh, producing gas since 2009.

• Smaller onshore output from Assam and Tripura.

• LNG entry points: there are 8 terminals with about 52.7 MMTPA (million metric tonnes per year) capacity [10]. Dahej (Gujarat) is the largest.

• West coast: Dahej, Hazira and Mundra (Gujarat), Dabhol (Maharashtra) and Kochi (Kerala).
• East coast: Ennore (Tamil Nadu) [9].

Don't confuse with

• City gas distribution (CGD): CGD is a local pipe network inside one town or district that supplies CNG and PNG. The National Gas Grid is the nationwide trunk network that brings gas to these local networks.
• HVJ pipeline: HVJ is a single trunk line (Hazira–Vijaipur–Jagdishpur), India's first. The National Gas Grid is the whole connected network, of which HVJ is only one part.
• Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga vs Indradhanush Gas Grid: Urja Ganga is a GAIL project for eastern India (UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha). Indradhanush is a five-CPSE joint venture for the eight NE states.
• "One Nation One Grid" for electricity: that is the national power transmission grid, which carries electricity. The National Gas Grid carries natural gas through pipelines.

Prelims Hooks

• HVJ = Hazira (Gujarat) – Vijaipur (MP) – Jagdishpur (UP). It was India's first trunk gas pipeline, about 1,700 km long, built by GAIL.
• Operational gas pipeline: 25,429 km (June 2025). Authorised: about 34,233 km. Under execution: 10,459 km [2].
• Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga links Jagdishpur to Haldia, Bokaro and Dhamra, and serves 5 states [4]. Its Dobhi–Durgapur section (348 km) was dedicated in February 2021 [5].
• Trap: Indradhanush Gas Grid is not a GAIL-only project. It is a JV of IOCL, ONGC, GAIL, OIL and NRL, and covers all 8 NE states with 1,656 km of pipeline [6].
• The North-East grid joins the national grid at Guwahati through the Barauni–Guwahati line.
• Regulator: PNGRB authorises pipelines and CGD areas. It has authorised 307 GAs covering about 100% of India's area and population [3].

Mains Points

• Fixing regional imbalance (GS-III, infrastructure):
• Gas sources such as Mumbai High, Cambay and the Gujarat LNG terminals are on the west coast, so gas use was long limited to the western and northern HVJ belt.
• The grid, Urja Ganga and Indradhanush now carry gas east and to the North-East [2][4][6].

• This revives fertiliser units (Gorakhpur, Barauni, Sindri), spreads city gas and supports balanced regional development.

• Energy transition and energy security:

• Gas burns cleaner than coal. It gives off less carbon dioxide and almost no ash. CNG for vehicles and PNG for homes improve urban air quality.
• The grid is key to the target of 15% gas in the primary energy mix by 2030, up from about 6.3% in 2022 [7] and about 6.7% in 2023 [8]. The primary energy mix is the share of each fuel in all the energy a country uses.

• But about half of India's gas is imported as LNG [8]. This leaves India exposed to global price shocks, so the grid must be matched with more domestic output (for example from the KG basin) and more regasification capacity (about 52.7 MMTPA) [10].

• Challenges:

• Pipeline building is slow in the hilly terrain of the North-East.
• High LNG prices keep many gas power plants running below capacity.
• The pricing and regulatory system is complex. This slows down how fast the grid can turn into real gas use.

Related concepts

• Natural gas
• City gas distribution
• Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga
• Gas hydrates

Read more

• Natural gas and the national gas grid