GAIL to execute Dabhol-Bangalore pipeline project; Completion scheduled for 2011

15 Jan 2008

The Dabhol-Bangalore pipeline is among the five new pipelines for which GAIL had received authorisation in the first quarter of 2007.

GAIL today approved in-principle the laying of the 730km Dabhol-Bangalore gas pipeline for supplying piped gas from the Dabhol power plant in Ratnagiri in Maharashtra to to industrial clusters in of Maharashtra and Karnataka at an approximate investment of Rs 2,500 crore.

Depending on the source and customer tie up, the 30" Dabhol-Bangalore gas pipeline will be designed to carry 16 MMSCD. GAIL will now carry out the feasibility test on the route of the pipeline, customers' identification, and freezing the design parameters before the final investment is approved by GAIL.

The proposed pipeline route is from the R-LNG Terminal of Ratnagiri Gas and Power Pvt Ltd at Dabhol in Maharashtra up to Bangalore. The pipeline will pass through the Ratnagiri and Kolhapur districts of Maharashtra; and Belgaum, Dharwad, Haven, Davangere, Chitradurga, Tumkur and Bangalore districts of Karnataka.

The other pipelines for which GAIL has authorisation are: Dadri-Bawana-Nangal pipeline; Chainsa-Gurgaon-Jhajjhar-Hissan pipeline; Jagdishpur-Haldia pipeline and; Kochi-Kanjirkkod-Bangalore / Mangalore pipeline.

In addition to these, GAIL will be laying three pipelines to augment the capacities of Dahej-Vijaipur pipeline; Vijaipun-Dadri pipeline; Vijaipur-Auraiya-Jagdishpur pipeline. The carrying capacity of these three pipelines is 74 MMSCMD. The total length of the new pipelines will be around 5500 km and the estimated investment on these would be nearly Rs 20,000 crore.

When all these pipelines are commissioned by 2011-12, the total length of GAIL's pipelines would be over 12,000 km and the capacity is expected to increase from 148 MMSCMD at present to around 300 MMSCMD.

These eight new pipelines will form part of an integrated national gas grid in the country and also enable development of city gas distribution projects in the country by catering to a large number of cities and towns falling in the catchment area of the existing and future pipeline networks.