Gail Awards Contracts for 520-km East India Gas Pipe
India’s biggest gas infrastructure company Gail has awarded contracts for a 520-km gas pipeline in east India under the ambitious Jagdishpur-Haldia and Bokaro-Dhamra Natural Gas Pipeline (JHBDPL) project.
The 520-km pipeline will connect Dobhi (Bihar state) to Durgapur (West Bengal); this will include a 120-km line to Jamshedpur (Jharkhand).
The 2,655-km long JHBDPL project, also known as the Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga project will pass through the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha. In September, India’s Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved capital grant of rupees 51.76bn ($0.77bn), which is 40% of the total cost of the project, over five years. The total cost of the JHBDPL gas pipeline is estimated to be roughly rupees 130bn.
“With these awards, major contracts for Phase – II of the Jagdishpur-Haldia & Bokaro-Dhamra Natural Gas Pipeline project, have been finalised,” Gail said November 7.
The pipeline will supply gas to fertiliser and power plant, refineries, steel plants and other industries. The city gas network laying activity in Varanasi and Bhubaneswar has already commenced and activities in other cities namely Patna, Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Cuttack and Kolkata will start by next month, Gail said.
“The project activities of Phase-I are under advanced stage of construction which will supply gas to Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Patna and Barauni. Though certain hindrances are being encountered in RoU opening, Gail is putting all out efforts to overcome the hindrances and complete the Phase-I before the scheduled completion of December 2018,” B. C. Tripathi, chairman, Gail said.
Sharp Jump in Capital Expenditure
With the award for pipeline to Durgapur and Jamshedpur, Tripathi said to date Gail has awarded contracts over rupees 60bn covering phase I & II of the project. The company is presently executing 4,000 km of gas pipeline which will cover the states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, Kerala and Karnataka.
According to Tripathi, capital expenditure of Gail for the next financial year is expected over rupees 60bn which will be a jump of more than 50% of current fiscal. Indian fiscal year runs from April to March.