The 900 km gas pipeline project of GAIL India is facing delay because of land acquisition issue in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. It is learnt that GAIL has so far completed only 30 km of the pipeline.
GAIL India is constructing a 505 km pipeline through Kerala, 310 km through Tamilnadu and 85 km through Karnataka.
Delay in laying the pipeline affected the phase - 2 of the Petronet LNG terminal project at Puthuvype near Kochi, Kerala.
Petronet LNG hopes that the land acquisition issue in Tamil Nadu may be resolved soon as GAIL officials are in contact with the Tamil Nadu government. Once the issue is get sorted out, it may take around 6-7 months to complete the project, reports indicate.
The slow progress on the work of the pipeline affects the capacity utlilisation of the terminal. Even in phase -1 which had a rather soft launch, the present capacity utilization will be only 8-10 per cent.