RIL gets nod for mega gas pipeline

New Delhi, Aug 31: Government has cleared Reliance Industries’ two mega multi-source gas pipeline projects, connecting Jamnagar in Gujarat with Cuttack in Orissa and linking Goa with Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh.

Unlike the present gas pipeline infrastructure in the country which has only one source of gas supply, Reliance’s natural gas pipeline would have multi-source, government sources said.

When contacted, Reliance Petroleum Ltd (RPL) Director RK Narang confirmed that the pipeline projects have received government clearance and the company would now set out to acquire right of way.

The Jamnagar-Cuttack pipeline would connect Reliance’s proposed LNG import terminal at Jamnagar in Gujarat to its NEC-25 offshore exploration block in Cuttack in Orissa.

“We are planning to import gas from Iran at our LNG import terminal at Jamnagar. The pipeline would market the gas across Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and other neighbouring states,” Mr Narang said. The Cuttack end of the pipeline would be fed with gas obtained from the exploration block in Orissa.

Reliance expects to obtain around 20 million cubic meters of gas per day from the NEC-25 block.

Sources said Reliance proposes to develop the pipeline in two phases. In the first phase, a pipeline starting from Jamnagar and traversing through Ahmedabad, Ujjain and Bhopal is envisaged. In the second phase, the pipeline would be extended up to Cuttack. The second pipeline would connect Reliance’s offshore exploration block in Goa with the one at Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh.

This pipeline would connect the MB-5 block, which lies south of Mumbai High and North of Goa, with the D-4 And D05 Blocks in offshore Kakinada.

-- PTI