'Bathinda-Srinagar gas pipeline completion stuck in clearances'

The completion of the Bathinda-Srinagar gas pipeline project, which was scheduled for last July, will depend on statutory clearances from the states and the concluding of the studies on potential customers, the government has said in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

The completion of the Bathinda-Srinagar gas pipeline project, which was scheduled for last July, will depend on statutory clearances from the states and the concluding of the studies on potential customers, the government has said in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

Petroleum and natural gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan blamed the delay on the absence of "anchor load customers" and the non-availability of statutory clearances. "The tendering process has also been delayed as a result," he said in reply to questions.

Pradhan said studies were being carried out about the potential customers. Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board had authorised GSPL India Gasnet, Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum to lay the pipeline from Bathinda to Srinagar via Jammu.

The original completion date for laying the 725-kilometre pipeline was July 6, 2014.