Shortage of pipes to delay gas supply to Dabhol plant

Supply of the much-needed gas to Dabhol is set to be delayed again. The reason: shortage of pipes required to build the Dahej-Uran pipeline which will feed the gas to the plant.

The first stretch of this pipeline, from Dahej in Gujarat to Uran in Maharashtra, was inaugurated earlier this month by Petroleum Minister Murli Deora. He said the 576-km pipeline would be completed by May-.

"We have completed a major part of our stretch of the pipeline. But lack of pipes has held up work in a section of the pipeline," said an official of a company laying a part of the Rs 1,800 crore pipeline.

The 2,140-Mw power plant at Dabhol is currently running at a third of its capacity, on expensive naphtha. Deora said with the completion of the pipeline in May, Dabhol would get gas by June. That is unlikely to happen now.

The company laying the pipeline says that its machinery has been lying idle due to lack of pipes. "We are paying almost $30,000 a day for the machinery. All of these expenses has ensured that profitability from the pipeline construction is very low," the official said.

Many plants in power-starved Maharashtra are banking on the pipeline to run at full capacity. The Uran power project too is expected to start producing an additional 250 Mw of electricity once gas through the pipeline is made available. The plant is currently producing only 400 Mw, but its capacity is 850 Mw.

The lack of pipes is just one of the reason that has delayed the 576 km-long pipeline project beyond the original deadline of March 31 this year.

"Right of way for the pipeline and the involvement of politics are also harming not just this project, but all such projects in the country," the official said. Earlier, the Gujarat government had not allowed construction of a 12-km stretch of the pipeline in Surat district citing troubles with farmers in the region. That issue has not yet been solved.

GAIL India Ltd, the company laying the Dahej-Uran pipeline, concedes that there was a shortage of pipes. "But we have managed to resolve the issue," GAIL Director (Projects) SK Bajpai said.

Officials of pipe manufacturer PSL, which is the supplier of pipes for the Dahej-Uran pipeline, declined to comment.