RIL to supply KG basin gas from Feb third week

Reliance Industries (RIL) will start supplying natural gas from the Dhirubhai wells in the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin in Andhra Pradesh from the third week of February, according to state finance minister K Rosaiah.

Presenting the vote-on-account Budget on Thursday, he said the natural gas supply was expected to catalyse substantial investments in the state apart from ensuring piped gas as a substitute for LPG and CNG for the automobile sector, households and industries.

The gas supply would come as a welcome relief to Vemagiri, Konaseema, Gautami, GVK II and Reliance gas-based power projects, which have been lying idle for a long time for want of gas, he said.  The projects together would add 1,700 Mw capacity.

To begin with, 5 million standard cubic metres per day (mmscmd) of natural gas would be supplied. This would increase to 11 mmscmd from April.

"We have been suffering from three years due to non availability of gas. We need 1.1 mmscmd for the Jegurupadu Phase II 228 Mw and 1.196 mmscmd for the 464 Mw Gautami Power. We would able to meet 70 per cent of the gas requirements and this is enough to declare our projects commercial. We will be ready to operate within a week of getting gas supplies,'' said Issac A George, chief financial officer of GVK Power and Infrastructure.