Days after the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) came out in public citing the deadline for the Haldia–Jagadishpur pipeline, GAIL has indicated that it is ready to go ahead with the project in sync with customer requirement and gas availability.
Replying to a query by Business Standard, a GAIL spokesperson said, “GAIL has been authorized to lay the Haldia–Jagadishpur pipeline by the ministry of petroleum and natural gas and not by PNGRB. We are working towards positioning the pipeline in sync with customer requirement and gas availability.”
Last week, the regulator had stated that the company had said that it would be difficult to set up its Rs 7,600-crore pipeline from Jagdishpur to Halida due to the non-availability Krishna-Godavari-Basin gas, with a Reliance Industries-led firm not being able to set up the Kakinada-Haldia pipeline. The company spokesperson added that, apart from Kakinada- Haldia pipeline it was also eyeing other domestic sources, like ONGC’s Mahanadi Gas as well as CBM from various blocks in Bengal – Jharkhand.
According to PNGRB, both the firms were given authorisation for the project five years ago and may lose the projects, if they don’t apply for further extension by 2012. The 1100-Kilometre Kakinada-Haldia pipeline was to supply natural gas from KG-Basin to parts of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and the southern districts of West Bengal.
The GAIL project was about gasline from Jagdishpur in Uttar Pradesh to Haldia, stretching 2050 Km to meet the demand of gas in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar. The investment for this project in West Bengal alone was to be around Rs 3,000 crore as it covers about 820 km.
Last week, PNGRB chairperson L Mansingh had said, “Authorisation for both the projects were granted five years ago and the deadline is around 2012. If they don’t ask for an extension, they will lose the project and it may go for bidding. When we issued a notice, GAIL clarified that there is no availability of gas and unless the Reliance pipeline comes into place, there is no reason to go ahead with the project,” said L Mansingh, chairperson, PNGRB.
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According to Mansingh, when asked for reasons behind the lag, RGTIL (the RIL firm) has noted that “KG Basin production” has gone down and “has allocated the gas already to other areas so there is no gas available for the proposed Kakinada-Haldia pipeline”.
However, RIL did not respond to the Business Standard quieries. He had also indicated that If RGTIL and Gail fail to meet the deadline, the regulator may go for fresh bidding.