Pipeline contract scramble
Pipeline laying contractors are clearly desperate for work.
Ten contractors attended a pre-tender meeting with GAIL in Delhi on June 19 to lay two relatively small pipelines in Uttar Pradesh. GAIL senior manager MI Haque made a presentation, which began at 11:30 am and ended an hour later.
“I was surprised to see representatives from big companies like Punj Lloyd, KazStroy and Essar,” says a source. “These companies typically bid only for major trunk pipelines of 48-inch diameter with lengths of hundreds of kilometres.
Now they’ve been reduced to competing with small contractors like us.” GAIL wants to lay a 24-inch diameter, 71-km gas pipeline from Auraiya district to Sachendi, a suburb of Kanpur; and a 12-inch diameter, 14-km gas pipeline connecting Sachendi to gas customer Kanpur Fertilisers.
Expect GAIL to issue a tender this month. Kalpa-Taru, Corrtech, Mideast Pipeline, Jai Hind Projects, and Offshore Infrastructures also attended the pre-tender meet.