PIPELINES: Gujarat Petronet slams GAIL deceit
Gujarat State Petronet has criticised GAIL plans to lay a 666-km gas pipeline from Vijaipur in Madhya Pradesh to Phulpur in Uttar Pradesh, passing through Auraiya in Uttar Pradesh.
GSPL general manager commercial Ravindra Agrawal wrote to the PNGRB on March 13 with a six-point rebuttal to GAIL’s pipeline proposal, submitted on February 20. Agrawal accuses GAIL of misrepresenting the pipeline as a new spurline when it is really a capacity extension of the established HVJ-DVPL (Hazira-Vijaipur-Jagdishpur and Dahej-Vijaipur) pipeline network.
“GAIL’s move would result in the expansion of the pipeline,” writes Agrawal in the two-page letter, seen by this report. Agrawal claims the proposed Vijaipur to Phulpur section is really a ‘loopline’ which basically means it increases capacity of the HVJ-DVPL pipeline compared to a spurline which would not only increase capacity but also run through new territory.
More, as GAIL has always classified HVJ-DVPL as an integrated project, if the new pipeline really is a spurline it should not have a wider diameter than 18-30 inches - the proposed Vijaipur to Auraiya stretch will have a 36-inch diameter while the proposed Auraiya to Phulpur pipeline will have a 24-inch diameter, violating PNGRB Regulation 2 (q) for determining capacity of petroleum, petroleum products and natural gas pipelines. A PNGRB source confirms it has received the GSPL letter and has asked GAIL to respond.