Expect a new R-LNG pipeline tender from IOC
Pipe supply and pipeline laying contractors are eagerly awaiting tenders for IndianOil’s proposed R-LNG evacuation pipeline from its under-construction Ennore terminal.
IOC needs to move fast as it has only 36 months to commission the pipeline from the date of PNGRB authorisation on December 10, 2015. Already planned is a 325-km is a trunk pipeline to Nagapattinam with three spur lines: one from Thiruvallur in Tamil Nadu to Bangalore in Karnataka will run 290-km; another from Nagapattinam to Madurai in Tamil Nadu will be 242-km; and a third from Nagapattinam to Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu will be 318-km.
"A detailed route survey is underway," says a senior IOC source. "This is to trace the pipeline path, correct to one metre.
The route might have railway crossings, highways or rivers. This can take up to three months.
" Once the route survey is done, IOC will approach the Tamil Nadu government for RoU permission to lay the pipeline. “Land acquisition is a major challenge," he adds.
"Under PNGRB rules the central government must appoint a competent authority to help us secure RoU." Our IOC source refuses to speculate if it will face obstacles securing RoU in Tamil Nadu with its reputation as an unfriendly state.
For close to two years GAIL has struggled to secure RoU from state authorities to lay a 300-km section of its 948-km Kochi to Mangalore pipeline.