New Delhi, Jan 3 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi would dedicate the Kochi-Mangaluru natural gas pipeline to the nation on Tuesday -- an important milestone towards the creation of 'One Nation, One Gas Grid'.

The Prime Minister would inaugurate the pipeline at 11 a.m. via video-conferencing. Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan along with Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan, would also be present at the occasion.

The 450-km pipeline has been built by GAIL (India) Ltd. It has a transportation capacity of 12 million metric standard cubic metres per day and would carry natural gas from the Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) Regasification Terminal at Kochi (Kerala) to Mangaluru (Dakshina Kannada district, Karnataka) while passing through Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod districts.

The overall cost of the project was nearly Rs 3,000 crore and its construction created over 12 lakh man-days of employment.

The laying of the pipeline was an engineering challenge as the route of the pipeline necessitated it to cross water bodies at more than 100 locations. This was done through a special technique called Horizontal Directional Drilling method.

The pipeline would supply environment-friendly and affordable fuel in the form of Piped Natural Gas (PNG) to households and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) to the transportation sector. It would also supply natural gas to commercial and industrial units across the districts along the pipeline.

The consumption of cleaner fuel would help in improving air quality by curbing air pollution.