Bengaluru, Jan 6 (IANS): The 444-km Kochi-Mangaluru natural gas pipeline, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi commissioned on Tuesday, would benefit industrial, commercial entities and households in Karnataka's coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa said.

"The pipeline will benefit hundreds of households, commercial establishments and industries in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts, as natural gas is economic, eco-friendly and a clean fuel for use," said Yediyurappa in a statement.

The Chief Minister participated in the virtual event earlier in the day through video-conferencing from his home-office.

Terming the pipeline dedication to the nation historical, he said the natural gas would cater to the growing demand for eco-friendly fuel by power and fertiliser plants across the state, spur industrial growth, and create hundreds of jobs.

Though the Kochi-Mangaluru pipeline project was launched in 2009, protests and land acquisition for laying the pipes in Kerala delayed it, escalating its cost from the initial cost of Rs 2,915 crore to Rs 5,750 crore.

"The long pipeline supplies gas in liquid form from the Petronet Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) plant at Kochi where the imported LNG is stored and regassified," Gail official Jyoti Kumar told IANS.

The pipeline has been supplying the Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilisers (MCF) at Panambur in the north of Mangaluru since December to produce urea, replacing naptha as feedstock.

"The pipeline will soon supply the gas to Mangalore Refinery Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) and state-run ONGC's Mangalore Petrochemicals Ltd (OMPL)," said Kumar.

Noting that Karnataka would equally benefit from the inter-state project with uninterrupted supply of eco-friendly and affordable fuel in the form of piped natural gas (PNG) and compressed natural gas (CNG), Kumar said a parallel pipeline from Trissur and Palakkad in north Kerala to Bengaluru via Coimbatore and Krishnagiri in Taml Nadu would cater to all users in the state.