GAIL sees good Bangalore gas demand
GAIL spent nearly $1bn laying a 1389-km gas pipeline from Dabhol in Maharashtra to Bangalore in Karnataka.
So it’s a relief to hear GAIL anticipates it can sell between 1m cm/d to 1.25m cm/d to factories in and around Bangalore in the next one year. GAIL has already begun supplying some gas to the Toyota Kirloskar car factory in the city.
It believes the Karnataka Power Corporation-owned 128-MW power station at Yelahanka in north Bangalore can take 500,000 cm/d. Jindal Aluminium and tile manufacturer H & R Johnson are also ready to receive gas but GAIL has yet to lay spur lines to connect these and other customers.
Jindal Aluminium’s factory is 7-km from GAIL’s tap-off point while H & R Johnson's factory is 17-km away. "We have applied to the local municipal authority for permission to lay pipelines and approached NHAI (National Highway Authority of India)," says GAIL.
Jindal is ready to take 13,000 cm/d as it will be cheaper than LPG.