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As per targets, the 2,050km pipeline will have to be completed by March 2014.
Gail plans to source gas from coalbed methane (CBM) blocks in West Bengal to ferry through the pipeline instead of KG D6 gas as planned earlier.
On September 2, Gail had informed the oil ministry that survey for the pipeline was complete.
Award of tenders for pipeline is targeted by November-December, said a senior oil ministry official on the condition of anonymity.
Gail had set up project offices in Ranchi and Kolkata and another office is being established in Patna.
Gail will re-route nearly 250 km of the pipeline that will help to evacuate gas from CBM blocks in West Bengal. Currently, private companies such as GEECL and Essar Oil are drilling gas from CBM blocks at Raniganj in West Bengal. This pipeline will evacuate and connect these areas to the national grid of pipelines and also facilitate gas supply to customers in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar. Chairman and managing director of
Gail BC Tripathi did not respond to an e-mail sent by this newspaper seeking his comments on the issue.
“We were told gas is being tied up from CBM block in Durgapur. The oil ministry had instructed Gail to speed up implementation as the project is already delayed,“ the ministry official said. Gail has been told to submit a progress report by December this year.
The authorisation for laying the pipeline was awarded to Gail in 2007. According to earlier plan, Reliance Gas Transportation Infrastructure (RGTIL) was to set up a 1,100 km pipeline from Kakinada to Haldia that would ferry natural gas from KG D6. Gail’s Jagdishpur to Haldia pipeline will further transport this gas for customers in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar.
However, RGTIL told the oil ministry that only hindrance in going ahead with the construction is non-availability of gas. RIL is currently producing 44 million standard cubic metres a day of gas from KG D6 block, S K Srivastava, director general of directorate general of hydrocarbons said on September 15.
“We have given a hearing to RGTIL. They have raised some valid issues.
We are looking into them,“ L Mansingh, chairperson of Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) told Fiancial Chronicle on Monday. PNGRB is the nodal authority to authorise and offer contracts for setting up of natural gas pipelines in India.
Talking on feasibility of Gail's Jagdishpur to Haldia pipeline, Mansingh said, “There are other sources of gas coming up in Haldia.
For instance, companies may set up an LNG terminal or natural gas from Mahanadi block may also start flowing.“
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