Gail to invest Rs8,000 crore in pipeline from AP to MP

GAIL India Ltd will invest Rs8,000 crore in laying a pipeline from Andhra Pradesh to Central India for transporting natural gas from the Krishna-Godavari basin gas finds in the east coast to northern states.

Reliance Industries, ONGC and GSPC among other companies are either producing gas from the finds or are prospecting for gas in the KG basin.

RIL, meanwhile, has signed pacts to sell natural gas to 6 power producers in AP.

GAIL has sought permission from the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) for laying a 1,100-km pipeline from Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh to Vijaipur in Madhya Pradesh, company chairman and managing director U D Choubey said.

The proposed pipeline would be connected to GAIL's cross-country Hazira-Vijaipur-Jagdishpur pipeline at Vijaipur.

The pipeline is proposed to be laid in four years and will transport 25-40 million standard cubic metres of gas (mmscmd) per day.
Gujarat State Petronet Ltd (GSPL) has also proposed a similar pipeline from the east coast to Bhilwara in Rajasthan.

GAIL has identified ONGC and Reliance Industries as potential sources of gas while GSPL proposes to transport gas from a field owned by its group firm in the KG basin.

GAIL plans to nearly double its pipeline network to 12,000-km by 2012 and raise gas transportation to 300 mmcmd.