Mangaluru: The state forest, ecology and environment ministry have approved the 362-km pipeline for transporting liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to be constructed from Mangaluru to Bengaluru, with a split line from Hassan to Mysore.
The permission with 18 conditions from the state ministry had come in July, but was only made public on Tuesday September 29.
The work on the pipeline, an ambitious project of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), should begin soon in the wake of the permission and be complete by 2017-18. As per the earlier reports, the pipeline, to be built at a cost of Rs. 701 crore, was expected to be completed by November 2015.
The pipeline, said it will initially meet a demand of 1.12 MMTPA (million metric tonne per annum) and a final demand of 1.78 MMTPA. The project has received most of the statutory approvals, including from the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB), Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), State Pollution Control Board, labour licences and now the approval from the Forest Department will speed up the process.
Land of 2.47 acres in Mysore for a receiving station and 9.93 acres at Hassan for an intermediate station has been taken possession of, while land possession at Neriya, Dakshina Kannada district, is in the process. Mobilisation of men and machinery by contractors is in progress.
Mangalore is the single-largest supply location for LPG and Mangalore LPG Import Facilities Terminal (MLIF) was established in 1996 to evacuate LPG produced from MRPL, and to receive and distribute LPG through imports. The release added that Mangalore’s location on the west coast makes it easier to import LPG to the city as it is closer to principal LPG supply locations of the Persian Gulf and Arabian Gulf.
