New Delhi, Sept 29: Government today released a draft natural gas pipeline policy that envisages construction of future gas transportation network on common carrier principle but nominated state-run gas firm GAIL as the monoply builder of cross country gas pipelines. However, the pipeline proposals already approved like that of Reliance Industries will be exempted from the policy. Any producer of gas will have the right to sell gas within 100-kms of well-head or land-fall point to consumers directly and lay the pipeline for this purpose but inter-state pipelines will be constructed and maintained by GAIL. "All gas pipelines except captive transmission gas pipelines laid for exclusive use of a large consumer will be built on common carrier principle and their capacity will be expanded or an additional pipeline laid to meet the requirement of new players," Petroleum Minister Ram Naik told a news conference here. All trunk pipelines for transportation of gas across the country covering more than one state will be built/managed by a company to be notified by the government and till it is notified by GAIL, he said.
The common carrier principle (entailing sharing of pipeline capacity among the industry) would not apply to the existing pipelines like the Hazira-Bijapur-Jagdishpur (HBJ) trunk pipeline. "The owner (GAIL) may offer only excess capacity (beyond its requirement) but other gas firms will not have any right over it,” he said.
Bureau Report