UP agrees to set up high-level committee to speed up GAIL pipeline project

The 2,050-km pipeline project has been positioned as 'energy highway' to carry efficient & environment-friendly fuel to UP, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal

For speedy implementation of GAIL (India) Limited's Jagdishpur-Haldia natural gas pipeline project in Uttar Pradesh, the state government has agreed to constitute a high-power committee to facilitate single-window clearance.

GAIL's 2,050-km pipeline project has been positioned as "energy highway" to carry efficient and environment-friendly fuel to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.

The decision to set up the committee was taken at a meeting between senior state government officials and GAIL. The committee will help secure statutory clearances, such as forest, environment, PWD, irrigation, industries and also provide administrative support.

The meeting was presided over by Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan, who also nominated state Principal Secretary (infrastructure and industrial development) Sanjiv Saran as the nodal officer to coordinate activities related to the project. Saran will review the project on fortnightly basis.

GAIL Director (projects) Ashutosh Karnatak apprised the Uttar Pradesh of existing and upcoming infrastructure projects in the state, a company press communique said on Tuesday.

In a presentation, the public sector behemoth said the pipeline would spur growth in Uttar Pradesh, as a plant of Fertilizer Corporation of India at Gorakhpur could be revived with the central support.

Besides, new city gas distribution networks were likely to be developed in Varanasi, Allahabad, Azamgarh and Gorakhpur, among other cities, depending on the respective local potential. This will also help generate additional revenue for state's coffers.

For timely execution, GAIL had sought support from the state and consequently it was agreed to constitute the committee comprising officials of different departments for the single window clearance.