The government has agreed to partly fund the Rs 13,000-crore natural gas pipeline from Jagdishpur in Uttar Pradesh to Haldia in West Bengal, according to state-owned gas utility GAIL India. The government will provide Rs 5,176 crore or about 40 per cent of the project cost after the state-owned gas utility found it difficult to commercially justify the huge investment in absence of either a firm source of gas supply or customers. The 2,539-km long pipeline from Jagdishpur in Uttar Pradesh to Haldia in West Bengal and also Bokaro in Jharkhand and Dhamra in Odisha will be completed by 2020. GAIL said the project will be implemented in synchronisation with execution of three anchor load fertiliser plants at Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, Barauni in Bihar and Sindri in Jharkhand. The project will connect eastern part of the country with the National Gas Grid.
OCT