Indradhanush Gas Grid Limited (IGGL) completed Asia's largest underwater hydrocarbon pipeline, below the river Brahmaputra connecting Majuli and Jorhat in Assam, announced the company's CEO Ajit Kumar Thakur on Saturday.

"IGGL completes a major milestone in the North East Gas Grid (NEGG) project by constructing the challenging 24-inch diameter hydrocarbon pipeline beneath the mighty Brahmaputra river by Horizontal Direction Drilling (HDD) method which connects Jorhat, Assam and Majuli, Assam," the statement said.

"Surpassing all the hurdles caused due to monsoon rains and flood, IGGL successfully completed this single HDD crossing of 4,080 Metres in length across Brahmaputra River which makes it the longest river hydrocarbon pipeline in Asia and 2nd longest in the world," it added.

The total length of HDD crossing across the Brahmaputra River considering all major and minor water channels is 5,780 Metres including three separate HDD sections of length 1000 M, 4080 M, and 700 M.

"With the completion of the Brahmaputra HDD, IGGL has achieved more than 71% physical progress of the NEGG Project and is determined and constantly working to complete the Guwahati- Numaligarh section of the NEGG by February 2024," it further said.

The CEO further thanked the Assam government for being extremely supportive in implementing the project.

Indradhanush Gas Grid Limited (IGGL), is a joint venture company of five major Oil PSUs - IOCL, ONGC, GAIL, OIL and NRL. It is implementing the North East Gas Grid (NEGG) Project connecting the major cities and demand centres of Northeast India with the National Gas Grid.

The 1,656 km long NEGG natural gas pipeline project was built at a cost of Rs 9,265 crore.

Source-The Economic Times