GAIL and Himachal Pradesh sign gas pipeline cooperation deal

Thu, 29 January 2009

THE department of industry of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh has signed an agreement with GAIL jointly to study the demand potential of gas and allied products in the state, and work out the feasibility of extending the proposed Dadri-Bawana-Nangal gas pipeline to Himachal Pradesh. Under the agreement, GAIL will use its technical and commercial expertise to study the various options and collate the gas demand potential of the state. GAIL has already conducted a sample survey of some of industrial areas in Himachal Pradesh.

After the completion of an assessment on the demand potential and route of the pipeline, GAIL is already planning the 65-km pipeline extension. According to U.D. Choubey, GAIL's chairman and managing director, the availability of natural gas to Himachal would enable the state to meet the additional energy demands by extending the gas pipeline from Rajpura in Punjab to the Baddi, Barotiwala, and Nalagarh industrial areas, and encourage a reduction in vehicle emissions by switching over to CNG-based fuel.