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Nirupam gas plan to counter coal pollution

Company Name : Environxchange.com Source : The Telegraph-Calcutta

Durgapur, July 16: The government is planning to launch a gas-based power generation facility in Bengal within two years to reduce air pollution caused by thermal power plants, industries minister Nirupam Sen said here today.

Sen, who is also in charge of the power department, said: “Power generation in our state mostly depends on coal. Hydel power amounts to only 3 per cent of the total electricity generation here. Coal-based power is cheaper than non-conventional resources but it also causes air pollution.”

“We need electricity but also have to reduce the pollution level. That is why we are planning to produce electricity from gas,” Sen said, while inaugurating a pre-paid meter-vending station and a bill collection centre at power company Durgapur Projects Ltd (DPL).

The minister said the government had requested Gas Authority of India (GAIL) to supply gas and was also planning to procure coal-bed methane gas (CBM) from the nearby Ranigunj coalfield.

“The GAIL authorities have told us it will be able to provide us gas after 2012. We are also looking to tap CBM gas from the coal belt of Ranigunj and Asansol. We can easily bring the gas to DPL,” the minister said.

He said the power department had embarked on a project to “provide electricity to all households in the state by June 2011”.