Patna: City households will get piped CNG (compressed natural gas) for cooking purposes from October this year as the Gas Authority of India Limited is close to completing the first phase of the gas pipeline project here after its final alignment was approved recently.

The date for the launch is being finalised and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit Patna to dedicate the gas pipeline to the people.

"We will charge the first phase of CNG pipeline in Patna in October and the completion work is already going on to ensure that households get CNG for cooking purposes in their kitchen by that time. We are in the process of inviting the Prime Minister to inaugurate it and dates are being finalised," a senior GAIL official told The Telegraph on Thursday.

The first phase will cover areas between Saguna Mor on the outskirts of Patna to Hartali Mor near Vikas Bhavan on Bailey Road, for which an eight-inch underground steel pipeline is being laid.

GAIL officials said that around 900 apartments and societies are being attached to the distribution network and they will start getting cooking CNG on the day of inauguration.

The Raj Bhavan and the chief minister's official residence, 1 Aney Marg, will also be connected during the first phase.

The state industries department, the nodal agency for the CNG pipeline, has approved the final alignment of the pipeline and is acting as a single window to take clearances from other government departments, reviewing weekly progress and removing obstacles in laying the pipes.

"The CNG pipeline is being completed in phases," industries department principal secretary S. Siddharth said on Thursday.

"Once the first phase is complete, gas will be pumped between Saguna Mor and Hartali Mor through huge tankers. Once all the phases are completed, the gas distribution grid will be connected directly to the Haldia (Bengal)-Jagdishpur (Uttar Pradesh) gas pipeline with the help of a 'city gate station' located at Dariyapur beyond Naubatpur in Patna district," he added.

The Saguna Mor to Hartali Mor pipeline will extend up to Gandhi Maidan where it will meet the pipeline that will run from Railway Colony in Danapur to Danapur Cantonment and take the path along the Ganga to Gaighat and Transport Nagar near Zero Mile.

The Takht Shri Harimandir Sahib and the Kankarbagh area will also be connected to the grid.

Later, the remaining areas will be covered. CNG stations for automobiles will also be established along the pipeline network.

The industries department is also reviewing safety issues related to the pipeline and ensuring that small pillars or stones are put to indicate that the pipeline runs beneath the ground.