GAIL Places Rs 305-Crore Order For Steel Pipes

New Delhi: GAIL India Ltd, the country's biggest natural gas transporter, on Wednesday said it has placed orders for purchase of 315 km steel pipes to carry fuel to shut fertiliser plants in Bihar.

"Taking another key step in ensuring energy security for the Gorakhpur, Barauni and Sindri fertiliser plants under revival en route Phulpur-Haldia natural gas pipeline, GAIL has placed orders for purchase of 315 km of line pipes for Auraiya-Phulpur pipeline on Jindal Saw and Essar Steel at a total cost of Rs 305 crore," the company said in a statement.

GAIL chairman and managing director B C Tripathi said the sections for which pipeline procurement has been placed are being taken up for revival of shut fertiliser plants at Gorakhpur, Barauni and Sindhri.

The Auraiya-Phulpur pipeline is one of the main feeder lines of the Phulpur-Haldia pipeline project, called 'Energy Highway (Urja Ganga)' of Eastern India.

GAIL has previously placed orders for line pipes of the Phulpur-Dobhi (Gaya) section of the project at a cost of Rs 550 crore and awarded laying work contracts for the Dobhi-Patna/Barauni sections at a cost of Rs 216 crore. 

Pipeline laying work in the Dobhi-Patna/Barauni section commenced in September last year.

"Further, bids received for Laying Works of Phulpur-Dobhi section with spurline to Varanasi are presently under evaluation," the statement said.

GAIL said tenders for laying works of Auraiya-Phulpur pipeline and for procurement of line pipes of Gorakhpur spur line have already been floated.     

The company is planning to start the construction works in these sections from October, it said.

The 315-km Auraiya-Phulpur pipeline, 341 Km Phulpur-Dobhi (Gaya) section and 414-km spurlines to Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Patna and Barauni will be completed by December 2018 at a cost of Rs 4,600 crore, GAIL said.

Phase-II (1201-km) and phase-III (583-km) of the Phulpur-Haldia pipeline project are targeted to be completed by December 2019 and December 2020 at an estimated investment of Rs 5565 crore and Rs 3425 crore respectively. 

"GAIL presently is taking up farmer engagement and public awareness campaign activities in these sections in order to create a congenial working environment for project execution prior to start of construction," it said.