Hope in the pipeline

If GAIL has its way, Maharashtra and Karnataka will have natural gas flowing by 2011. A 730-km pipeline will carry gas from Dabhol, where the Ratnagiri Gas & Power’s LNG terminal is located, to Bangalore. The Rs 2,500 crore project, cleared in principle by the GAIL Board, is expected to spark off an economic boom in Karnataka’s Tier-II cities and towns.

GAIL hopes the supply of gas will benefit industries in the two states in a big way. It plans to design its pipelines in such a way as to transport 16 mn standards cubic metres per day, but that depends on the source and customer tie-up.

The pipeline, as proposed, will pass through Ratnagiri & Kolhapur (Maharashtra) and Belgaum, Dharwad, Haveri, Davangere, Chitradurga and Tumkur (Karnataka). All these towns, a GAIL spokesman said, will see gas distribution projects coming up. KPMG Assistant Director Kumar Manish believes that natural gas will help industries that are currently using naphtha or diesel to save some costs. According to him, the pipeline will prod a large number of commercial consumers and small industries to switch from the liquid fuel to gas. The gas would work out cheaper than the commercial LPG.

The Dabhol-Bangalore pipeline is among the five new pipelines GAIL has planned. Together, they form an integrated national gas grid.

— K.R. Balasubramanyam