Gail completes Kochi-Mangaluru natural gas pipeline work

Gail (India) Limited has completed the work on Kochi-Mangalore natural gas pipeline project.

The pipeline project overcame the biggest hurdle by completing the final 540-metre treacherous stretch across Chandragiri river in Kasargod (Kerala), according to highly placed sources in Gail India Ltd.

The laying of the 444-km-long natural gas pipeline was launched in 2009 at an estimated cost of Rs 2,915 crore. However, the work was delayed due to reasons, like land acquisition and was finally commissioned in 2014. The delay in the project resulted in an escalation of the project’s cost to the tune of Rs 5,750 crore.

Initially, it was planned to commission the pipeline by August-end. But the horizontal directional drilling to lay the pipelines underwater was stuck in Chandragiri river in Kasargod, which eventually delayed the completion of work.

The work was given to LNG terminal of Petronet LNG in Kochi six years ago. Gail (India) Ltd was entrusted with the responsibility of laying the pipeline from Kochi to Mangaluru. The pipeline was designed to transport 16 million cubic metres (MCM) of LNG with Kochi’s demand being 5 MCM and Mangaluru’s assured demand being 4 MCM.

A senior Gail official said, “To commission the supply of gas above 10 kg in high pressure, the permission from Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (Peso) is needed. The authorities from Peso will inspect the pipeline and give approval for commissioning of the pipeline. The pipeline is designed to supply 140 kg gas, operationally 60-kg gas will be supplied.”

The Gail India higher officials too will visit the site and inspect the pipeline. Once commissioned, Mangalore Chemical and Fertilizers Limited (MCF) will be the first industry in Mangaluru to receive gas. Later, it will be supplied to OMPL and MRPL. Gail Gas Ltd (GGL), a subsidiary of Gail, has been entrusted for piped natural gas supply for cooking in Mangaluru.

More than 1,300 households in October had registered for piped natural gas, sources added.