The government of India has approved a INR55.6bn (US$778m) grant as Viability Gas Funding (VGF) for the 1,600 km Indradhanush gas pipeline project, worth INR92.6bn (US$1.3bn). The project is developed by a consortium of state-owned companies Indian Oil (IOC), GAIL, Oil India and Numaligarh Refinery (NRL) and will provide natural gas to eight north-eastern states, namely Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim. The planned pipeline will be connected to the national grid through Barauni-Guwahati gas pipeline, part of the Urja-Ganga scheme.
In 2016, the 2,500-km-long Urja Ganga gas pipeline project - also known as the Jagdishpur-Haldia and Bokaro-Dhamra Gas Pipeline (JHBDPL) project - obtained an INR51.8bn (US$1.3bn) grant from the government. The gas pipeline is developed by the gas transmission company GAIL, which started to build the West Bengal segment in February 2018. The Urja Ganja gas pipeline will deliver 7.4 mcm/d (2.7 bcm/year) in a first phase and will be later raised to 16 mcm/d (5.8 bcm/year). The project is expected to be completed in December 2022.