"Once the link pipeline is built, Tripura will be able to export its surplus gas to the rest of the country or even use the gas from Myanmar to set up gas-based plants in the state." India is promoting the $3-bn pipeline plan to import gas from Myanmar through Mizoram and Tripura. "After the Bangladesh government refused to consider a tri-nation project, the Indian petroleum ministry has proposed a plan to lay the pipeline via the NE and north Bengal," said a senior Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) official. The prospect of importing gas using a pipeline through Bangladesh was the cheapest option, and state-owned Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) has already submitted a feasibility study to the petroleum ministry for the 1,400-km-long pipeline from Myanmar's Sitwe area to the National Grid Station at Gaya in Bihar via the NE and West Bengal. "A number of industries have expressed their desire to establish their units if the required quantities of gas were made available from Myanmar," industries and commerce director Abhishek Chandra said. The ONGC is commissioning a 740-MW gas-based thermal power project at Palatana in southern Tripura, and is also planning for an increase in gas production in Tripura from 1.5m cum/d to 4.5m cum/d to meet the growing demand.