GAIL awards contract for 105-km of Kochi-Mangaluru gas pipeline

State-run gas utility GAIL India has awarded a contract for pipeline laying work for another 105 km section from Perole-Kodalamuguru- Mangaluru section of the Kochi-Koottanad-Mangalore natural gas pipeline, carrying forward the current momentum in the project work.

As a result, the project will progress simultaneously from both the ends, ie, Kochi and the Mangaluru side, so that the completion of the project is expeditiously completed, B C Tripathi, CMD of Gail, said.

Tripathi said work on the 91-km Kochi-Koottanad section, which was awarded in September 2016, has been received positively by all stakeholders. He said substantial headway on the project work has been made during the last six to seven months, which was possible due to the active support of the state government.

He said the pipeline would serve as a ''Green Energy Corridor'' for decades to come and enable city gas distribution companies and gas-based industries to come up in the state. As a result, environment-friendly piped natural gas (PNG) and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) would be supplied to households and vehicles.

GAIL is targeting to complete the Kochi-Koottanad-Mangaluru pipeline by December 2018 as per directives of the ministry of petroleum and natural gas. It is likely to provide a major economic boost to the state by way of generating employment and various socio economic benefits, he said.

Tripathi also met Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan to apprise him about the progress of work on the 440 km Kochi-Koottanad-Mangaluru Natural Gas pipeline project. The GAIL chairman also held discussions with additional chief secretary and Director General of Police in separate meetings.

He discussed the progress made in the project with the continuous support of the state government, administration, police and the public at large and thanked them for their active engagement which, he said, has started yielding result at the ground level.

The pipeline project, which was initially planned for completion by March 2013, was first extended till June 2015 and then to February 2019 as the project was facing land acquisition problems in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

The company said the project has made progress with the support of the Kerala government and other state agencies.