KOCHI MANGALURU PIPELINE

Subject : Economy

Context : The much-delayed Kochi-Mangaluru natural gas pipeline project is finally ready for commissioning as GAIL India has completed the project.

Concept :

• The 444-km-long natural gas pipeline was launched in 2009 at an estimated cost of ₹2,915 crore and was to be commissioned in 2014.
• But opposition with regard to safety and on commercial grounds, wherein the land price was the main hurdle, had resulted in the project cost nearly doubling to over ₹5,750 crore.
• With the commissioning of the pipeline, gas demand in Kerala will touch 80-90 million cubic metres per annum from 60 million cubic metres now.
• Apart from huge environmental gains, the State can gain monetarily as it can get up to ₹1,000 crore by way of taxes alone.

Major Gas Pipeline Projects

• Jagdishpur – Haldia/Bokaro – Dhamra Pipeline Project (JHBDPL) & Barauni- Guwahati Pipeline project (BGPL): It is supporting the revival of 3 Fertilizer Plants namely located at Gorakhpur, Barauni and Sindri, and new Fertilizer Unit at Durgapur.
• North East Region (NER) Gas Grid: A joint venture of five (05) oil and gas CPSEs i.e. GAIL, IOCL, OIL, ONGC, and NRL named as “Indradhanush Gas Grid Ltd” (IGGL) has been entrusted to develop trunk pipeline connectivity in all North Eastern States.
• Kochi-Koottanad- Bangalore-Mangalore (Ph-II) Pipeline Project (KKBMPL)
• Ennore-Thiruvallur-Bangalore-Nagapattinum– Madurai – Tuticorin Natural gas pipeline (ETBNMTPL): This pipeline will connect new Ennore LNG Terminal with various demand centers in the region.

Source : The Hindu

Additional  Facts :

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• Widespread snowfall in the past 24 hours in the upper reaches of Kashmir resulted in the closure of three main highways on Monday, and disconnected the Valley’s surface routes with the rest of the country.
• The 15th Finance Commission on Monday submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi its report on the ratio in which tax is to be divided between the Centre and the States over the next five years. The report ‘Finance Commission in COVID Times’ will be submitted to Finance Minister.
• Abiy has said it would be a limited campaign focusing on the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the militia-cum-political party that runs the northern region. However, almost two weeks into the conflict, Ethiopia risks falling into an ethnic civil war with regional implications.
• The TPLF was founded in 1975 as a resistance army of the Tigrayan people against the military dictatorship, which was called the Derg.
• “Increase in core inflation suggests improvement in demand conditions, which have improved after [the] COVID-related lockdown was lifted. However, it will be too early to term this as a general recovery; a large part of this is due to festival related demand,” said Devendra Kumar Pant, chief economist at the rating firm.