GAIL hands over Rs 150 crore to Kerala farmers

Delay in pipeline hits commissioning of LNG terminal

Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL), which had started issuing compensation last December at Poyya village in Thrissur district of Kerala, has handed over about Rs 150 crore in the state as crop compensation to land owners for laying inter-state pipelines.

The company is laying the gas pipeline from Kochi to Kootanad in Palakkad district and thereon to Bangalore and Mangalore. The pipeline passes through Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. In Phase 2, the project has a length of 900 km and would pass through Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Of this, about 505 km of the pipeline alignment is in Kerala running through Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode and Kannur.

Distribution of compensation is active in districts like Kasargod, Palakkad, Thrissur and Ernakulam, while land owners from Kannur, Kozhikode and Malappuram districts are yet to receive compensation. Farmers in these districts are agitating against the takeover of their lands.

KP Ramesh, deputy general manager, GAIL, told Business Standard Phase II was progressing well in five districts and welding work was over on 30 km. Having faced bitter resistance during the initial stages of land acquisition, he said, most of them were now co-operating.

The project is expected to meet the energy demands of Kerala besides supporting the industrial growth, especially in the electric power generation. It would also facilitate city gas supply to transport sector and piped natural gas to households and other private establishments.

He said the entire process was being done in accordance with the Right of Use (RoU) acquisition for laying the gas pipeline stipulated by the Petroleum & Minerals Pipelines (Acquisition of Right of User in Land) Act, 1962. The Act has fixed the land compensation at 10 per cent of the market value. However, the Kerala government has fixed the acquisition price by at least five times the fair value.

Slow pace
The slow pace of the work and delays in entering into marketing tie-ups for the sale of natural gas had delayed the commissioning of the Petronet LNG terminal at Puthuvype, near here. The company planned to commission the project in 2012, but the delay derailed the schedule. Later, this was slated for February or March, but did not happen. The terminal was ready to receive LNG by the end of last December. Petronet LNG, which implemented the terminal, has not taken a final call on its commissioning due to this uncertainty.

Phase II, which involves an investment of Rs 3,400 crore runs 310 km through TN and 85 km through Karnataka.