GAIL plans to set up 5,500-km gas connectivity

GAIL India has proposed to set up 5,500 km of gas connectivity over the next two-three years investing $4 billion, a senior company official said on Friday.

"We have planned to add 1,000 km of gas connectivity every year and in another two-three years we will be laying gas connectivity to around 5,500 km across the country... we are investing $4 billion for these projects," GAIL India general manager (gas marketing) Rajendra Tiwari said.

He hoped that that it would help reduce the production and demand gap in the country.

GAIL is in the process of laying additional pipelines in the Dadri-Bawana-Nangal and Chainsna-Jhajjar-Hissar region so as to serve the Northern market and this year alone around 1,000 km were laid, he said at a seminar on 'Energy Self Sufficiency -- The Future' organised by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Chennai on Friday.

In Southern region, pipelines were also laid in Kochi-Bengaluru-Mangalore and Dabhol-Bangalore so as to serve the Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu market, he said.

Targeting the eastern region, the company has also planned to lay a pipeline connecting Haldia-Jagdishpur soon, he told reporters in Chennai.

He said at present there were around 170million standard cubic metres per day natural gas flowing in the country and considering a demand of 225 million standard cubic metres per day in 2010 the demand-supply gap is expected to increase by 2015-2016.

"As per projected estimates, it is felt that the demand figures would be around 300 million standard cubic metres per day in 2011-12 and 442 MMSCMD by 2016-17. . ," he said.

Stating that the natural gas resources are not evenly distributed across the country due to lack of infrastructure facilities, he said, still there were 'virgin' places that remain untapped particularly in the Eastern region.

Tiwari said currently in India there were about 11,000km of pipeline network with majority of the pipelines of 7,500km being owned by GAIL India.