Protests force Cairn India to halt oil pipeline work in Gujarat
12 May 2012
Cairn India Ltd has halted work on the Mangala Development Pipeline (MDP) in Jamnagar, Gujarat, following protest by locals.
The company has advised its contractor Larsen & Toubro Ltd to suspend work of laying the pipelines in the area until further orders. L&T is said to have complied with the request.
Work on the 70-km Salaya-Bhogat stretch of the pipeline has been held up for about 18 months due to local protests, Cairn sources said.
Cairn India and its partner ONGC have invested close to $900 million in the 670 km pipeline project that runs from Barmer in Rajasthan to Bhogat in Gujarat. The pipeline is being constructed in two phases.
The MDP originates from Mangala Processing Terminal (MPT) in the Mangala Field and passes through two states (Rajasthan and Gujarat), eight districts and travels up to 670 km before it reaches its end at the coastal location of Bhogat near Jamnagar on the western coast line. About 154 km of the pipeline is in Rajasthan and the rest in Gujarat.
The pipeline crosses all major crude oil pipelines in western India, potentially allowing the blending of Rajasthan crude with other crude transported to the costal facilities in the west coast.