MUMBAI, May 20: The Indian Oil Corporation and Gas Authority of India (Gail) have signed a memorandum of understanding for transfer of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) through a pipeline being laid down by Gail from Jamnagar to Loni near Delhi. According to the MoU, Gail will make all the investment in the pipeline while IOC will arrange for storage and handling facilities for LPG ex-tap off and delivery points.According to an IOC press release issued here on Wednesday, the MoU was signed by MA Pathan, chairman, IOC, and his counterpart in Gail, CR Prasad in New Delhi on Tuesday.LPG will be received by IOC through handling and storage facilities at five tap-off points along the 1,246 km pipeline being set up by Gail at a cost of Rs 1,230 crore. The storage and handling facilities will be set up by IOC at Palanpur in Gujarat, Ajmer and Jaipur in Rajasthan, Madanpur Khadar in Delhi and Loni in UP.Pathan said the Jaipur and Loni terminals and bottling plants will be commissioned during the second half of2000-01 at a cost of over Rs 150 crore. The LPG bottling plants at Ajmer and Madanpur Khadra already exist, he said, with a capacity of 22,000 and 88,000 tonnes per annum respectively.The pipeline, according to Prasad, will vary from 8 inch to 16 inch diameter at different sections and shall have a foreign exchange component of Rs 387 crore. The ultimate capacity of the pipeline will be 2.5 million tonnes but the initial capacity of 1.7 million tonnes will be available by April 2001. the pipeline, Prasad adde, will help faster evacuation of LPG from the private sector refineries at Jamnagar.
