The last phase of ONGC-Cairn India's World’s Longest continuously heated and insulated pipeline project that connects Salaya to Bhogat in Gujarat is facing resistance from local politicians.
The pipeline has already been declared a project of national importance by the government was accorded the status of one of the major projects in the state during Narendra Modi's Vibrant Gujarat campaign two years ago and also has all the requisite government permissions.
Six months after it ran into a political hurdle, the last phase of ONGC-Cairn India’s pipeline project — between Salaya and Bhogat — continues to be in limbo despite a favourable court order, which calls for the pipeline construction to be carried out uninterrupted.
What is surprising is that the issue lingers on despite a Gujarat High Court order to allow work to be carried on without disruption in November 2010.
Local politicians have stalled work on the 80-km continuously heated and insulated pipeline in Gujarat, while the energy major continued to pay a monthly rental of Rs 10,000, along with other right of use (ROU) charges determined by the state, to the local government authorities for the land through which the pipeline will pass.
Congress politicians lead by MP Vikram Madaam in the Jamnagar district is holding up the construction of Phase-II of the Mangala Development Pipeline Project by creating ‘various obstructions’.
Latest one comes from his right hand man Irfan Shaik who has been threatening other contractors working in the construction of this project of national significance.
The construction manager of Leighton Company a contractor working on the project had also moved to the poilce in Kalyanpur seeking for help after being threatend by Irfan Shaik last year.
One of the main reasons for it getting the status of national importance is that in the last leg, the project will have a mini port from where the crude from Cairn's fields could be supplied at a lower cost to Indian refineries along the coastline. Although the state government is fully supportive, the sitting Congress MP Vikram Maadam from Jamnagar has stalled the progress of the project of National Significance (World’s longest continuously heated and insulated pipeline being built by ONGC-Cairn JV). So, while the nation is faced with increasing import bills due to rising crude oil prices, local politics is taking centre stage here to hold a project of high importance.
Cairn India, the firm that gave the country its largest onland oilfield, has complained to the Petroleum Minister S Jaipal Reddy about obstructions a Congress MP was causing in Gujarat to the firm's project. Without naming the Member of Parliament, Cairn on March 11 wrote to Reddy saying a 70-km stretch of pipeline that would take the Rajasthan crude oil to Gujarat coast has been delayed by six months due to the MP from Jamnagar.
Cairn and its 30 per cent partner state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) are delivering 125,000 barrels of oil produced from the Mangala oilfield in the Rajasthan block, to refineries of Reliance Industries and Essar Oil in Gujarat through a 590 km Barmer Salaya (near Jamnagar) pipeline.
The Mangala Development Pipeline (MDP) is the world’s longest continuously heated and insulated pipeline and will have access to 75% of India’s refining capacity.
The MDP originates from Mangala Processing Terminal (MPT) in the Mangala Field and passes through two states (Rajasthan and Gujarat), eight districts and travels up to ~670 kms before it reaches its end at the coastal location of Bhogat near Jamnagar on the western coast line of India. About 154 km of the pipeline is in Rajasthan and the rest in Gujarat.
The pipeline has already been declared a project of national importance by the government was accorded the status of one of the major projects in the state during Narendra Modi's Vibrant Gujarat campaign two years ago and also has all the requisite government permissions.
Six months after it ran into a political hurdle, the last phase of ONGC-Cairn India’s pipeline project — between Salaya and Bhogat — continues to be in limbo despite a favourable court order, which calls for the pipeline construction to be carried out uninterrupted.
What is surprising is that the issue lingers on despite a Gujarat High Court order to allow work to be carried on without disruption in November 2010.
Local politicians have stalled work on the 80-km continuously heated and insulated pipeline in Gujarat, while the energy major continued to pay a monthly rental of Rs 10,000, along with other right of use (ROU) charges determined by the state, to the local government authorities for the land through which the pipeline will pass.
Congress politicians lead by MP Vikram Madaam in the Jamnagar district is holding up the construction of Phase-II of the Mangala Development Pipeline Project by creating ‘various obstructions’.
Latest one comes from his right hand man Irfan Shaik who has been threatening other contractors working in the construction of this project of national significance.
The construction manager of Leighton Company a contractor working on the project had also moved to the poilce in Kalyanpur seeking for help after being threatend by Irfan Shaik last year.
One of the main reasons for it getting the status of national importance is that in the last leg, the project will have a mini port from where the crude from Cairn's fields could be supplied at a lower cost to Indian refineries along the coastline. Although the state government is fully supportive, the sitting Congress MP Vikram Maadam from Jamnagar has stalled the progress of the project of National Significance (World’s longest continuously heated and insulated pipeline being built by ONGC-Cairn JV). So, while the nation is faced with increasing import bills due to rising crude oil prices, local politics is taking centre stage here to hold a project of high importance.
Cairn India, the firm that gave the country its largest onland oilfield, has complained to the Petroleum Minister S Jaipal Reddy about obstructions a Congress MP was causing in Gujarat to the firm's project. Without naming the Member of Parliament, Cairn on March 11 wrote to Reddy saying a 70-km stretch of pipeline that would take the Rajasthan crude oil to Gujarat coast has been delayed by six months due to the MP from Jamnagar.
Cairn and its 30 per cent partner state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) are delivering 125,000 barrels of oil produced from the Mangala oilfield in the Rajasthan block, to refineries of Reliance Industries and Essar Oil in Gujarat through a 590 km Barmer Salaya (near Jamnagar) pipeline.
The Mangala Development Pipeline (MDP) is the world’s longest continuously heated and insulated pipeline and will have access to 75% of India’s refining capacity.
The MDP originates from Mangala Processing Terminal (MPT) in the Mangala Field and passes through two states (Rajasthan and Gujarat), eight districts and travels up to ~670 kms before it reaches its end at the coastal location of Bhogat near Jamnagar on the western coast line of India. About 154 km of the pipeline is in Rajasthan and the rest in Gujarat.
- Cairn’s Pipeline has also been certified as a world record by Limca Book of World Record’s 2011
- Cairn is just acquiring RoU for the land and there is no acquisition of any land involved
- The pipeline will provide facility of crude transport to the GoI nominated buyers
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