Rajya Sabha: KSPL Gas Pipeline Works Delayed Due To COVID, Heavy Rains

NEW DELHI: Construction work on the Kakinada-Visakhapatnam-Srikakulam Gas Pipeline (KSPL) has been delayed due to rains along with the COVID pandemic effect, Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Rameswar Teli stated in the Rajya Sabha.

The minister was responding in writing to a question posed by YSRCP MP V Vijayasai Reddy in the Rajya Sabha on Monday. The Minister said that the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) had on July 16, 2014 had given its approval to the Andhra Pradesh Gas Distribution Corporation for the construction of a natural gas pipeline between Kakinada-Vizag-Srikakulam.

He said the Kakinada-Vizag section of the KSPL pipeline project is targeted to be completed by June 30, 2021 and the Vizag-Srikakulam section by June 30, 2022. However, construction work on the pipeline was delayed due to the COVID pandemic and the heavy rains which has affected the State. 

The minister said the Andhra Pradesh Gas Distribution Corporation had asked PNGRB to extend the construction deadline for the Kakinada-Vizag section to September 30, 2022 and the Vizag-Kakinada section to September 30, 2023.

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