KOCHI: The Gas Authority of India Ltd’s (GAIL) Kochi-Koottanad-Bengaluru-Mangaluru natural gas pipeline project (KKBMPL) commenced supplying CNG to Indian Oil Corporation’s City Gas Distribution (CGD) system from Walayar to Coimbatore.
The project is part of the second phase of the KKBMPL project from Kochi to Koottanad, Bengaluru and Mangaluru, officials said. Gas supply at GAIL station in Pichanur village, Madukkarai taluk, Coimbatore district, was inaugurated by George Antony, DGM (constructions), along with P Saseendranath, DGM (operations), early this week.
The first stretch of 96km from Kochi to Koottanad was commissioned in June 2019 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 450-km natural gas pipeline between Kochi and Mangaluru in January 2021.
Koottanad is the point from where the pipeline bifurcates to Mangaluru (via Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod) and to Bengaluru (via Palakkad, Coimbatore, Erode, Salem, Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri). George Antony said the pipe will have 30-inch width from Kochi to Koottanad. The pipeline which bifurcates from Koottanad will have 24-inch width each to Bengaluru and to Mangaluru, he said.