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| Karnataka set to get gas by March 2012 |
| Mahesh Kulkarni / Chennai/ Bangalore Aug 19, 2010, 00:09 IST |
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State seeks gas to fire 5,000 Mw power projects to begin with
Karnataka, which has completely missed the first opportunity to make use of natural gas resources in the country, is now making all efforts to catch up with the gas revolution. The state government has sought allocation of at least 20 million metric standard cubic metres of gas per day (MMSCMD) from the K-G Basin.
The state government has drawn up an ambitious plan to use this gas for various purposes including power projects, industrial use, transportation and domestic supply to homes among others. The government recently approved gas-based power projects involving over 5,000 Mw at various places in the state during the recently concluded global investors’ meet.
“We are planning to make use of the gas resources in the state. But, it depends on the Centres’ allocation of gas to the state. We are in constant dialogue with the Centre for early allocation of gas and fixation of price,” V P Baligar, principal secretary, department of industries and commerce, Karnataka government, said.
He said the state has cleared three power projects of 700 Mw each on the bid route at Belgaum, Gadag and Davanagere along the 800 Km pipeline coming from Dabhol in Maharashtra to Bidadi near Bangalore. The state government has signed two memoranda of understanding with Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) to set up the pipeline at an investment of Rs 5,000 crore.
The Karnataka Industrial Investment Development Corporation (KSIIDC), which signed the MoU with GAIL, has been appointed the nodal agency for implementing gas-based projects in the state.
GAIL is also laying the second pipeline from Kochi to Mangalore. In addition to GAIL, Relogistics Infrastructure Limited has proposed to lay the pipeline from Chennai to Bangalore and Mangalore. The 455 km pipeline from Kolar to Mangalore will pass via Bangalore at an investment of Rs 6,796 crore.
“The survey work is over and we expect the Rs 5,000 crore pipeline project from Dabhol to Bangalore to be completed by March 2012” said V Madhu, principal secretary, infrastructure development department, government of Karnataka. He said the government had initially asked for the allocation of 40 MMSCMD gas from the KG Basin which is expected to produce about 80 MMSCMD of gas. But, no decision has been taken so far.
The state has estimated, about 25 MMSCMD of gas is required to fire power projects. In addition to this, there is a demand for about 6 MMSCMD gas from steel plants and 2 MMSCMD from fertiliser plants. Another 2.5 MMSCMD is required for supply to households and half MMSCMD for transport applications like CNG-run buses and autorickshaws.
Meanwhile, Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to allocate at least 20 MMSCMD of gas from the KG Basin in the first phase.
Madhu said a special purpose vehicle is being set up to carry forward projects using compressed natural gas by the KSIIDC along with GAIL. A permission from the Gas Regulatory Authority has been sought in this direction, he said, adding a detailed roadmap is under preparation for supplying gas to households. Presently, it has been planned to supply gas to 11 towns and cities including Bangalore along the Dabhol-Bangalore pipeline.
Gaurav Gupta, managing director, Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, said the corporation intends to run CNG-based buses within Bangalore city limits and to some inter-city routes. A detailed roadmap is presently being worked out, he said. Out of the 21,000 buses operated by the state government in the state, at least 7,000 buses including 5,000 buses in Bangalore city will be converted to gas, he said.
While, the cost of converting to CNG is yet to be estimated by the transport department, it is said that the CNG-run buses may cost about 10-20 per cent higher than conventional engine buses, which are priced in the range of Rs 15-20 lakh per bus. The department is in the process of identifying depots could be used to put up CNG fuelling stations, Gupta added.
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