PTI reported that Natural gas pipe laying work of GAIL Ltd,hindered due to resistance from local people demanding more compensation for the land through which the pipe was passing,is all set to resume with the state run gas utility agreeing in principle to hike the compensation amount.
Mr Oommen Chandy CM of Kerala after a cabinet meeting said that GAIL has agreed to pay 30%of the fair value of the land to the owners of the land considering Kerala's situation.
Mr Chandy said that though GAIL's policy was to sanction 10%of the fair value of land to owners,as a special case it was decided to provide 30%of the fair value.
He said that similarly,GAIL has also decided to bring down the width of the land for laying pipe line from 20 meters,which is the standard practice,to 10 meters in Kerala.
He added that"The ownership of the land will remain with the owners and they could continue with their cultivation."
However,he said that they could not undertake any construction activities.GAIL could go ahead with their projects as the land issue has been settled.
The INR 3,263 crore GAIL project involved laying 1,156 Kilometer long pipelines in Kochi to Koottanad to Bangaore to Mangalore stretches.It would comprise 107 kilometer Kochi to Koottanad,347 kilometer Koottanad to Mangalore,462 Kilometer koottanad to Bangalore lines including 240 Kilometer spur lines.
He added that the pipeline project would have connectivity with gas resources such as PLL-Kochi and Dhabol LNG,having connectivity with eco-friendly source of fuel.
He further added that besides boosting development of infrastructure,power generation and transport sector,the project would also bring an estimated tax revenue of minimum INR 500 crore to the state.