JOIN USKerala eyes huge tax revenue, industrial growth from GAIL's gas pipeline
As Gas Authority of India Limited's Kochi-Mangaluru natural gas pipeline will be formally commissioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, Kerala is expecting a huge tax revenue of up to Rs 1,000 crore, apart from accelerating industrial growth by providing cost effective and low pollution fuel.
The 444-kilometre-long pipeline, passing through seven districts in Kerala, has been laid at a cost of Rs 5,750 crore. The line will carry natural gas from the LNG regasification terminal at Vypeen in Kochi to Mangaluru.
According to Kerala government sources, once the gas line is fully utilised, the state could get a tax revenue of Rs 800 to Rs 1,000 core. Already the state was getting a revenue of around Rs 300 crore as the first phase was launched in Kochi in 2016 with industrial and domestic supply. Around 3.8 million cubic metres gas is being supplied in Kochi now.
Another major highlight would be accelerating industrial growth. The availability of cost effective fuel would obviously trigger industrial productivity in the region. GAIL sources said that LNG would be cheaper by at least 20 to 40 per cent than the conventional fuels being used for domestic and industrial purposes now. The Kochi-Mangaluru gas line has a total capacity to carry 12 million metric standard cubic metres per day.
Being less pollutant is another major advantage of using natural gas especially for industrial and automobile purposes. Industry sources said that the pollution levels could be brought down by 40 to 50 per cent by shifting from the conventional fuels to natural gas.
The project that was launched in 2009 was getting much delayed owing to protests against pipe line laying. It was initially planned to be commissioned in 2014. Owing to the delay the cost of the project had almost doubled.