The Supreme Court of India has approved the Kochi-Kottanad-Bangalore-Mangalore gas pipeline project, proposed by Indian gas company GAIL through the state of Tamil Nadu.
The project received the approval from the Ministry of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas in April 2015 but construction was disrupted due to the opposition of farmers and the Tamil Nadu government. GAIL will now work in close coordination with the Government of Tamil Nadu to restart the pipeline laying work of the 310 km long stretch passing through the state of Tamil Nadu.
The pipeline project will enable to deliver natural gas regasified at the Kochi LNG terminal to various industries in the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. GAIL has already developed its network in and around Kochi; in a second phase, the company will develop gas network in seven districts of Kerala.
GAIL runs the national gas pipeline grid supplying gas from the region of Bombay to the northern part of the country; its network spans over 11 000 km with a total capacity of 76 bcm/year.