New Delhi: Eastern India is likely to garner a substantial part of the Rs 70,000-crore investments expected to be made by the winners of the ninth round of city gas distribution bidding. The government is partially funding the construction of the pipeline to boost gas consumption in the region.

Of the 78 cities to be awarded contract, 36 of them are in eastern India.

Among the states in eastern India, the latest round covers 17 cities in Odisha for piped natural gas to residents and CNG to motor vehicles. Six cities will be covered in Bihar, besides five each in Jharkhand and Assam, two in Tripura and one in Bengal.

Officials said this round mainly focused on cities in the eastern and southern states as these are untapped areas. Most of the pipeline network is in the western and northern parts of the country.

Some of the districts covered in Odisha are Balasore, Bhadrak, Angul, Dhenkanal, Sambalpur, Kendrapara, Puri, Sundargarh and Jharsuguda.

Districts to come under the gas network in Bihar include Kaimur, Aurangabad, Rohtas, Gaya, Nalanda and Begusarai. In Jharkhand, Giridih, Dhanbad, Bokaro, Hazaribagh and Ramgarh will be brought under the pipeline network.

In Assam, Cachar, Hailakandi, Karimganj, Kamrup and Kamrup metropolitan districts will be covered. In Bengal, Burdwan will be the beneficiary region.

Eastern India has so far been untouched by the gas revolution with pipelines transporting the eco-friendly fuel mostly concentrated in west and north India.

The CCEA has approved a capital grant of 40 per cent of the project cost of Rs 12,940 crore for the Jagdishpur-Haldia & Bokaro-Dhamra Natural Gas Pipeline (JHBDPL).

The pipeline connecting Jagdishpur in Uttar Pradesh, Bokaro in Jharkhand, Dhamra in Odisha and Haldia in Bengal will be used to supply natural gas to three fertiliser companies that will be revived under a plan approved by the cabinet.