lack of customers and marketing infrastructure besides statutory clearances from the state governments has delayed the Bathinda-Srinagar gas pipeline, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. Giving this reply to a question posed by Dr Chandan Mitra(BJP), who sought the progress report about the project as it was supposed to be completed in July last year, the minister said the completion of the 725-km long pipeline will depend statutory clearances from the state governments.
Refraining from putting the new completion schedule, the minister said in the backdrop of the factors leading to the delay he cannot spell it out as asked by Dr Mitra. The minister also said absence of ‘anchor load customers’ was another factor and feasibility studies were on to identify potential customers. Informing the House that the tender bids invited to this project were not opened, Pradhan said the Government was exploring possibilities about opening refinery plants or other such infrastructure along the pipeline to make it commercially viable.
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board had authorised GSPl India Gasnet ltd, Indian Oil Corporation ltd, Bharat Petroleum Corporation ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation ltd for laying the pipeline from Bathinda to Sringar via Jammu. While 410- km of proposed pipeline is in Punjab, the remaining length will pass through Jammu up to Srinagar. The minister also allayed apprehensions about forcing farmers to sell their land for the project and said the land will be acquired with the consent of farmers and the two state governments.