India's main gas transmission company GAIL plans to extend the inter-state Jagdishpur-Haldia and Bokaro-Dhamra (JHBDPL or Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga) natural gas pipeline project to extend the coverage to the country's north eastern states (up to Guwahati in Assam) by another 750 km.
The JHBDPL project was launched in October 2016 and will span across 2,655 km through the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha. The gas pipeline will deliver 7.4 mcm/d (2.7 bcm/year) in a first phase and will be later raised to 16 mcm/d (5.8 bcm/year). It will mainly supply fertiliser plants and steel plants, and will also fulfil the energy requirements of 40 districts and 2,600 villages by 2020. So far, over Rs 5,176 crore (US$814m) have been awarded to cover the phases I and II of the INR 12,940 crore (US$2bn) project.
The extension to Guwahati aims to enable a better use of the Manilpur, Arunachal Pradesh and Silchar Valley gas deposits. GAIL has already completed a feasibility study to lay the pipeline within the approved US$2bn project cost. A consortium of GAIL, ONGC, Oil India Ltd and BPCL have decided to cooperate to develop a gas pipeline connecting the seven north-eastern states; it will create a special purpose vehicle to apply to the Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) for approving the project.