Prime Minister’s flagship platform for Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation, PRAGATI, has marked a significant milestone with the successful conduct of its 50th meeting. Since its launch by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015, PRAGATI has transformed governance by enabling real-time monitoring and resolution of key infrastructure projects and public grievances through direct Prime Ministerial review.
The platform exemplifies cooperative federalism, bringing together the Centre, States, and Union Ministries on a single digital interface. Over a decade, PRAGATI has helped accelerate decision-making, resolution of issues causing delay in key infrastructure projects, and instilled a strong culture of accountability.
The Ennore-Thiruvallur-Bengaluru-Puducherry-Nagapattinam-Madurai-Tuticorin Natural Gas Pipeline (ETBPNMTPL) project of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, is today’s focus.
The ETBPNMTPL Project is one of the most consequential clean-energy logistics assets created in Southern India. This Pipeline project was executed by Indian Oil Corporation Limited to extend natural gas access from coastal import and domestic production points to inland industrial and urban demand centres. The project was sanctioned on 27 May 2016 at a cost of over 6,000 crore rupees and designed as an integrated natural gas trunk network of approximately 1,400 km with an authorised capacity of 84.67 Million Metric Standard Cubic Metres per Day.
The pipeline traverses Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry to supply anchor industries and to enable the rollout of City Gas Distribution networks across multiple districts. The project was taken up for review under PRAGATI on 29 August 2018, at a stage when physical progress stood at only 17.4 per cent. Progress had remained constrained due to the cumulative impact of unresolved land acquisition, Right of Way, forest and environmental clearances, and corridor interface permissions across multiple States.
Following the PRAGATI review meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the project was accorded priority by the concerned State Governments and Central Ministries, with sustained follow-ups. As a direct outcome of this PRAGATI-led governance, the project transitioned from prolonged stagnation to accelerated execution. The entire trunkline was commissioned on 25 September 2023. The project’s success story demonstrates how PRAGATI’s model of proactive governance converts long-pending, multi-jurisdictional infrastructure constraints into time-bound deliverables by aligning State administrations, the sponsoring Ministry, and environmental regulators within a single accountability frame. With Anand Kumar and Akshit Vedyan, Adarsh, Akashvani News Delhi.
