Gail Moves Ahead With East India Pipe Project

India’s biggest gas marketing and transportation firm Gail has awarded the first contract for purchase of 108 km 24-inch diameter line pipes under the Barauni – Guwahati segment of the ambitious Jagdishpur-Haldia & Bokaro-Dhamra Natural Gas Pipeline (JHBDPL) project, it said August 16.

The contract for purchase of line pipes was awarded to Gujarat-based Ratnamani at a total cost of rupees 1.25bn ($18mn). Line pipe procurement activities for the rest of the 600 km trunkline upto Guwahati is at an advanced stage of tender process, Gail said.

The Barauni – Guwahati pipeline section is part of the JHBDPL project, which envisages to connect eastern and north-eastern India to the existing natural gas grid. This project is planned to cover eastern part of the state of Uttar Pradesh as well as states of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Assam.

JHBDPL project is on schedule and the first phase is scheduled for completion by December 2018. The project will provide clean energy to households and transportation through the city gas distribution (CGD) networks enroute the pipeline, Gail said, adding that CGD projects have been commissioned at Varanasi, Bhubaneswar and Cuttack while project activities are under progress at other cities of eastern India.