GAIL set to commence work on energy highway

GAIL (India) Ltd has announced that work is all set to commence on the 2,050-km Jagdishpur-Phulpur-Haldia natural gas pipeline which will serve as the “Energy Highway” to carry the efficient and environment-friendly fuel to West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh on one hand and pave the way for the overall development of Eastern India and meet its energy requirements.

The pipeline project, which will connect Eastern India with the national gas grid, was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Ranchi, Jharkhand, recently.

The estimated investment in the natural gas pipeline project is Rs. 10,000 crore. Phase-I of the pipeline will have a capacity of 16 mmscmd which would be augmented to 32 mmscmd in phase-II.

The pipeline will benefit millions of people in the four states and lead to setting up of city gas networks in 17 major cities of the region, namely Varanasi, Allahabad, Patna, Gaya, Chhapra, Siwan, Gopalganj, Mujaffarpur, Bettiah, Bhagalpur, Bokaro, Dhanbad, Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Asansol, Durgapur and Kolkata. Thus, households in these cities will have direct access to piped natural gas (PNG) while vehicles will have similar access to economical compressed natural gas (CNG).

Besides city gas distribution, the Jagdishpur-Phulpur-Haldia pipeline will supply feedstock/fuel to fertiliser and power plants and major industries located in the region.

The fertiliser plants which will benefit from the project include units at Gorakhpur, Barauni, Sindri and Matix Durgapur. In addition, the pipeline will also supply natural gas to refineries at Barauni and Haldia, steel industries, power plants and other large SME manufacturing units in the region. It will also boost agricultural and economic development and generate employment opportunities in the region.

The Jagdishpur-Phulpur-Haldia pipeline will consist of 922 km main line (36 inch diameter) and 1,128 km spur lines and feeder lines (12 to 30 inch diameter). The compressor station will be located at Haldia.

GAIL (India) Ltd has already started activities related to detailed survey of the pipeline route. The survey will include engineering survey (topography, population density index, soil resistivity and soil investigation survey) and cadastral survey (collection of revenue details of every village along the route along with ownership details). Actual construction work will commence after the survey is completed.

The project is expected to have 46 river crossings, 17 railway crossings, 14 state highway crossings and 12 national highway crossings, making it one of the most difficult engineering projects of its kind.

JAGDISHPUR-PHULPUR-HALDIA PIPELINE COVERAGE