GAIL to build natural gas pipeline to Bangalore

NEW DELHI, JUNE 19. Gas Authority of India (GAIL) will lay a 500- km natural gas pipeline from Kasargod in Kerala to Bangalore via Mangalore in Karnataka by 2003.

"The cost of the Rs. 2000 crores ($462 million) 500-km long pipelines will be borne entirely by GAIL. The gas is expected to be delivered by 2003 end," company sources said.

The pipeline would carry six million cubic metres of gas, out of which four million cubic meters is projected for use by a proposed 800-MW power plant at Bidadi near Bangalore, they said.

GAIL would invest Rs. 2,500 crores ($535 million) to nearly double the carrying capacity of its main HBJ natural gas pipeline across seven states to 60.15 million cubic metres of gas per day from the current 33.4 million cubic metres, sources said.

The additional gas for supply through the expanded pipeline would be sourced from the proposed LNG terminal at Dahej in Gujarat.

GAIL is one of the four promoters of Petronet LNG, the consortium building the five million tonne LNG receipt and regasification terminal at Dahej.

Gas would also be sourced from LNG terminals planned by Shell India at Hazira and British Gas at Pipavav, sources said adding besides, HBJ pipeline would be extended to Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan at an estimated cost of Rs. 1,000 crores.

GAIL would be investing about Rs. 10,000 crores in the next six years in various expansion projects, sources said.

Under the 2,300 km Hazira-Bijaipur-Jagdishpur (HBJ) expansion plan, a new 36-inch pipeline, parallel to the existing pipeline, would be laid between Hazira in Gujarat to Bijaipur in Madhya Pradesh.

While new pipelines in KG and Cauvery basins would cost Rs. 1,500 crores, a pipeline would also be laid from Dahej to Hazira at an estimated cost of Rs. 500 crores.

GAIL is also examining the possibility of laying a 450-km LPG pipeline from Hadlia to Bokaro at a total investment of Rs. 500 crores. The pipeline would have a capacity of one million tonnes per annum, sources said.

Gas networks in Kerala and Karnataka have been planned at Rs. 2,000 crores. Besides, the company's investments in LNG terminals at Dahej, Trombay and Kochi would cost Rs. 570 crores.

LPG pipelines of Mangalore-Bangalore and Coimbatore would cost Rs. 600 crores while expansion of Uttar Pradesh petrochemical complex (UPPC) at Pata from 2.6 lakh tonnes to five lakh tonnes would cost Rs. 1,000 crores, sources said.

Funding of the expansion projects would be done mostly from internal resources and the balance through market borrowings, they said adding the company had internal accruals of Rs. 1200- 1300 crores every year which would be used for funding future projects.

Besides, with a healthy debt-equity ratio of 0.55-0.6 per cent, market borrowings for the balance would not be any problem, sources added.

- PTI

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