Essar Projects bags contract for 100 km pipeline

Firm to lay pipelines between Jalandhar and Amritsar, a key part of 2,100-km plan covering 5 states

Essar Projects, a leading EPC (Engineering Procurement & Construction) company, has announced that it has won a contract for a 100-km pipeline from GSPL India Gasnet Ltd. (GIGL). The project involves laying of natural gas pipelines, with diameter ranging from 12 inches to 18 inches, between Jalandhar and Amritsar, a critical segment of the 2,100-km Mehsana-Bhatinda-Jammu-Srinagar Pipeline (MBJSPL) project that passes through 29 districts in five states.

Shiba Panda, managing director, Essar Projects, said: "We are proud to be associated with a project that is integral to building a countrywide gas pipeline grid for India. This win reinforces our expertise as a world-class EPC contractor in the pipeline segment."

The MBJSPL project has been initiated to cater to the growing demand for natural gas in India, which is the world's third largest energy consuming country and accounts for nearly a third of the global consumption. GIGL was incorporated in 2011 as a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to build the pipeline, and is promoted by GSPL (Gujarat State Petronet Ltd, a GSPC company) along with Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum. The Jalandhar-Amritsar section is among the three sections for which GIGL recently completed the tender evaluation process.

Essar Projects has a proven track record of executing cross-country pipelines that carry oil & gas, water, as well as iron ore slurry through challenging geographies and tough terrains. Till date, the company has successfully executed over 5,500 km of cross-country pipelines in India and overseas, servicing clients like GAIL, GSPC, Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum, Bharat-Oman Refinery, Takreer, Gasco and Ambatovy Minerals.

The company has over four decades of experience in executing mega projects in sectors such as hydrocarbons (refinery, petrochemicals & fertiliser plants); tankages and terminals; pipelines (oil & gas, water, slurry and sub-sea); offshore (Platforms, SPM & PLEM); infrastructure (ports, jetties, airports, railway, buildings & townships); minerals & metals (steel plants, sinter feed, beneficiation & pelletisation plants, and material handling systems) and power plants (coal, gas, multi-fuel and hydel).

Essar Projects' active involvement in initial operations and maintenance, through the stabilisation phase of world-class manufacturing units of a wide range of Essar businesses, has helped in honing its expertise, adding O&M experience in the execution of turnkey projects.