PM Modi inaugurates the Kochi-Mangaluru natural gas pipeline
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday set out his government's energy roadmap, envisaging more than double the share of cleaner natural gas in the consumption basket, diversifying sources of energy, connecting the nation with one gas pipeline grid and bringing affordable fuel to people and industry.
Inaugurating a 450-km natural gas pipeline between Kochi in Kerala to Mangaluru in Karnataka, he said India under his government is seeing unprecedented work on highways, railway, metro, air, water, digital and gas connectivity which will aid economic development.
The government has an "integrated approach to energy planning. Our energy agenda is all-inclusive," he said.
While on the one hand, natural gas pipeline network is being doubled to about 32,000 km in 5-6 years, on the other, work on the world's biggest hybrid renewable plant combining wind and solar power has started in Gujarat.
Also, the emphasis is being laid on manufacturing biofuels as well as electric mobility.
In 10 years' time, petrol will be doped with as much as 20 per cent of ethanol extracted from sugarcane and other agro products, he said.
This would help cut reliance on imports for meeting oil needs as well as reduce carbon emissions.
Alongside, the share of natural gas in the energy basket is being targeted to be raised to 15 per cent from the current 6.2 per cent, he said.
The pipeline grid will help improve clean energy access as well as also aid in the development of city gas projects, he said.
Modi said 900 CNG stations were set up till 2014 after the advent of compressed natural gas as fuel for automobiles in the country around 1992. In the last six years, the number of CNG stations has gone up to 1,500 and the target is to take them to 10,000, he said.
Also, 25 lakh households had piped natural gas connections for using the fuel for cooking purposes till 2014 which has risen to 72 lakh now, he said.
"We are working to provide clean, affordable and sustainable energy," he said.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
