Houston, Thursday, January 18, 2024
Maharashtra Natural Gas Limited (MNGL), a joint venture between GAIL (India) Limited and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), andHeath Consultants Incorporated, a Houston headquartered company specializing in the safety of natural gas utilities infrastructure, earlier today penned a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Houston, Texas.
Under the auspices of the US-India Low Emissions Gas Task Force, this agreement was inked at the Consulate General of India in Houston, Texas by Mr. Sanjay Sharma, Director (Commercial) MNGL, and Mr. Paul Wehnert, Executive Vice President, Health Consultants in the presence of the Indian Consul General, Mr. D C Manjunath, and the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF).
As per the agreement, Heath, along with its associated group companies, shall offer support to MNGL in improving the efficiency, environmental, and safety aspects of its operations through technical consulting, services, and product offering(s) that MNGL may use to improve its environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria and further its capacity building in those areas.
MNGL is engaged in the business of city gas distribution of compressed natural gas (CNG) and piped natural gas (PNG) in the towns across Indian states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Telangana. Heath, an American company is one of the leading experts in providing gas leak location and leak detection solutions for energy and industrial customers across the globe.
Heath, along with its associated group companies, shall offer support to MNGL in improving the efficiency, environmental, and safety aspects of its operations through technical consulting, services, and product offering(s) that MNGL may use to improve its environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria and further its capacity building in those areas.
The agreement underscores that Heath, along with its associated group companies, shall offer its technical solutions to support MNGL in gas line location services, underground utility damage prevention, waste heat recovery, and low emissions valves.
Mr. D C Manjunath, Consul General of India, Houston spoke about the synergy in the U.S.-India energy space and said: “Energy Cooperation between India and the U.S. has deepened significantly in the recent years with Agenda 2030 Partnership. Clean energy, climate technologies, renewables, and hydrogen are among the new focus elements of this partnership, in addition to the traditional oil and gas sphere. Particular emphasis is being given towards technology collaboration and today’s MoU between MNGL and Heath Consultants is a welcome development in this regard.”
Speaking on the signing, Nolty Theriot, USISPF Senior Vice President, Government Affairs and Policy remarked: “Reducing methane emissions is key to supporting positive climate action, and the new collaboration between Heath and MNGL will showcase leading methane control technologies, measurement practices, and solutions to effectively reduce carbon emissions in India”.
Paul D. Wehnert, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Heath stated: “Heath is extremely excited to work with MNGL in technology transfer and associated field services with our India partner Josler Hydrocarbons to reduce methane emissions and increase public safety across the MNGL footprint in India.”
Commenting on the agreement, Mr. Kumar Shanker, Managing Director, Maharashtra Natural Gas Limited said: “ThisMoU would provide MNGL and Heath to jointly identify opportunities in the areas of emissions abatement, underground utility damage prevention, and Waste Heat Recovery, etc. Upon signing this MoU, together we would work to convert such identified opportunities into specific implementable projects.”
Both Washington and New Delhi have taken rapid strides in clean energy collaboration. In April 2021, during the Leaders’ Summit on Climate, President Biden and Prime Minister Modi announced a high-level U.S.- India Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 Partnership, to accelerate progress toward shared climate and clean energy goals.
The Agenda 2030 Partnership includes two tracks of engagement including the Strategic Clean Energy Partnership (SCEP), and the Climate Action and Finance Mobilization Dialogue. Later, reflecting the emerging priorities under the “Strategic Clean Energy Partnership (SCEP)”, the US-India Gas Task Force was also re-named the “Low Emissions Gas Task Force”.
About the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF):
The US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) is committed to creating the most powerful partnership between the United States and India. As the only independent not-for-profit institution dedicated to strengthening the U.S.-India partnership in Washington, D.C., and in New Delhi, USISPF is the trusted partner for businesses, non-profit organizations, the diaspora, and the governments of India and the United States.
About Maharashtra Natural Gas Limited (MNGL):
Maharashtra Natural Gas Limited (MNGL), a City Gas Distribution entity, is a joint venture of two Maharatna PSUs, GAIL (India) Limited and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) with equity participation from the Government of Maharashtra through MIDC and Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL).
About Heath Consultants Incorporated:
Heath Consultants Incorporated was founded in 1933 and virtually invented what has become today’s utility related methane leak detection industry. Heath develops, manufactures, and distributes a wide variety of sophisticated methane detection products designed to reduce harmful environmental emissions and protect life and property. Heath also provides methane leak detection and related services to gas utilities through its 1,600 highly trained service personnel.
About US-India Climate Technologies Action Group (CTAG):
The US-India Climate Technologies Action Group (CTAG) is a joint initiative of the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) and the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF). The CTAG aims to integrate private and public sector inputs on concrete initiatives that can contribute to advanced global action on climate, facilitate U.S. industry input on the latest climate-resilient technologies, share US business models with the Indian market to accelerate the development of the clean energy sector, mobilize capital for climate-smart infrastructure projects in India and strengthen the US-India bilateral relationship.
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