Natural gas pipe laying work of GAIL (India) Ltd, hindered due to resistance from local people demanding more compensation for the land through which the pipe was passing, is all set to resume with the state-run gas utility agreeing in-principle to hike the compensation amount.
GAIL has agreed to pay 30 per cent of the fair value of the land to the owners of the land considering Kerala’s situation, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told reporters here today after a cabinet meeting.
Though GAIL's policy was to sanction 10 per cent of the fair value of land to owners, as a special case it was decided to provide 30 per cent of the fair value, Chandy said.
Similarly, GAIL has also decided to bring down the width of the land for laying pipe line from 20 meters, which is the standard practice, to 10 meters in Kerala, Chandy said.
“The ownership of the land will remain with the owners and they could continue with their cultivation,” he said.
However, they could not undertake any construction activities, he added.
GAIL could go ahead with their projects as the land issue has been settled, Chandy added.
The Rs 3,263-crore GAIL project involved laying 1,156 Km long pipelines in Kochi-Koottanad-Bangaore-Mangalore stretches. It would comprise 107 km Kochi-Koottanad, 347 km Koottanad-Mangalore, 462 Km koottanad-Bangalore lines including 240 Km spur lines.
The entire stretch was to be commissioned in two phases.
The pipeline project would have connectivity with gas resources such as PLL-Kochi and Dhabol LNG, having connectivity with eco-friendly source of fuel, he said.
Besides boosting development of infrastructure, power generation and transport sector, the project would also bring an estimated tax revenue of minimum Rs 500 crore to the state, Chandy said.