PNGRB Clears ₹7,000 Crore Plan for 1,800-km GAIL LPG Pipeline Expansion Across Six States
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) has authorised the development of nearly 1,800 km of LPG pipeline infrastructure at an estimated investment of ₹7,000 crore. The three projects will span Telangana, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Karnataka and Goa, and will be developed by state-run GAIL (India) Ltd.
The authorised projects include a 556-km pipeline connecting Cherlapally in Telangana to Nagpur in Maharashtra, a 611-km pipeline between Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh and Sitarganj in Uttarakhand, and a 633-km pipeline originating at Shikrapur in Maharashtra.
Upon completion, the PNGRB-authorised common-carrier LPG pipeline network in the country will expand from approximately 7,700 km to about 9,500 km, an increase of nearly 23.5 percent. The approvals follow the earlier authorisation of the Kandla-Gorakhpur LPG Pipeline, currently the country's longest at around 2,757 km.
The new pipelines are intended to shift LPG movement away from road transport, reducing tank truck traffic and its associated safety, congestion and emissions impact. India imports a significant share of its LPG through coastal terminals, requiring onward inland transport, and the regulator has been working to reduce primary movement of LPG by road to bottling plants following a series of tanker accidents.
The projects add to GAIL's broader LPG pipeline capacity programme; the company has separately received PNGRB authorisation to expand capacity on the Jamnagar-Loni LPG pipeline from 3.25 MMTPA to 6.5 MMTPA, an investment estimated at ₹5,000 crore over three years.