Motorists in Calcutta will soon get access to clean fuel CNG (compressed natural gas) with two gas dispensing stations on the outskirts of the city getting ready for commission.

A gas cascade mounted on a truck has been dispatched from Ranigunj on Friday which will supply fuel at the CNG stations coming up at Garia and Newtown, Rajarhat, kicking off the process of throwing open these facilities for public use.

Essar Oil & Gas Exploration and Production Ltd (EOGEPL), the company which is operating a coal bed methane block at Ranigunj, east Burdwan, will initially supply CNG (natural gas compressed under 250 times of atmospheric pressure due to ease of transportation) to the stations which will be run by Bengal Gas Company Ltd.

BGCL is a joint venture between GAIL (India) Ltd and Greater Calcutta Gas Supply Corporation Ltd (GCGSCL). While the central PSU GAIL holds a 74 per cent stake, GCGSCL, run by the Bengal government, holds 26 per cent.

BGCL plans to set up 186 stations in six south Bengal districts — Calcutta, Howrah, North & South 24-Parganas, Hooghly and Nadia. It targets to set up at least 30 such CNG pumps by the end of this year.

Santosh Chandra, CEO of EOGEPL, said the Ranigunj field is producing 6.5 lakh standard cubic metres per day (scmd) and the plan is to scale this up to 1 million scmd by the middle of the year. GAIL is building a pipeline linking the field’s produce to Calcutta. Once completed, the city will get cost-effective and a steady supply of the gas, which is less polluting than fossil fuel.