GAIL to close bids on June 3

Kochi: Bolstered by the recent developments, GAIL  Ltd has decided to go full throttle with the pipeline laying work and is now finalising the tendering process. GAIL sources said the bids for the project, which covers seven districts, will be closed on June 3. ‘We hope to award the work by July end,” the sources said.

The 503-km pipeline will be taken up in five parts. GAIL sources said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s assurance to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to complete the work on time, and his subsequent meeting on Monday with the managing director of Petronet LNG in New Delhi, which has built the twin terminals in Kochi, has given the project a new life.

“Now, there is political ownership for the project which was not visible earlier,” the sources said. “We hope to finish the project in time.” The bid documents have put the period to complete the work as two years, they said.

GAIL sources said the concerns expressed by certain people about the safety of the project are unfounded. “Three statutory bodies—the Chief Controller of Explosives, the Oil Industry Safety Directorate and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board—will conduct the safety audit while the project is on and when it is complete,” they said.

The project follows international standards in design and construction. “The design follows the guidelines ( B31.8) of the American Society for Mechanical Engineers and the construction follows Code 1104 of the American Petroleum Institute,” they said. “These are the globally accepted best practices, and there will be no let on them.”