Indian Oil Approves ₹2,449 Crore for Kochi-Kanyakumari-Thoothukudi Natural Gas Pipeline
Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) has approved a capital outlay of ₹2,449 crore for the development of the Kochi-Kanyakumari-Thoothukudi Natural Gas Pipeline (KTPL) in southern India.
The pipeline will originate at the Kochi LNG Terminal in Kerala and extend approximately 425 km to Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu, with a designed system capacity of 6.84 million standard cubic metres per day (MMSCMD), including provisions for common carrier usage. IOCL had earlier received regulatory authorisation for the project from the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) following a competitive bidding process, in which the company emerged as the successful bidder.
The pipeline is intended to strengthen natural gas infrastructure across southern India by transporting regasified LNG from Kochi to demand centres in Kerala and southern Tamil Nadu. It is expected to support the expansion of City Gas Distribution (CGD) networks in the region and enhance the supply of natural gas to industrial consumers, power plants and other downstream sectors.
The project forms part of broader efforts to build out India's national gas grid and increase the share of natural gas in the country's energy mix, including expanding PNG and CNG availability to homes, businesses and the transport sector in underserved parts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
