The Government of Tamil Nadu has decided not to allow GAIL to run its Kochi-Bangalore natural gas pipeline across agricultural lands in the state.

The interstate pipeline project which runs in two states viz, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, is now facing difficulty after the Tamil Nadu government denied permission to lay the pipeline on agriculture lands.

As per state government's views, GAIL should re-align the pipeline along the highways to avoid farmland and habitations, remove pipeline-related structures from the agriculture fields and restore them to their original condition, and also compensate farmers for the loss. Phase-II of the project, from Mangalore to Bangalore, estimated to cost Rs 3,400 crore, is now held up. Some 505 km of this pipeline passes through Kerala; 310 km through Tamil Nadu; and 85 km through Karnataka.

However, GAIL has commissioned only 43 km pipeline of Phase-I, connecting Puthuvype to Kalamassery. This can connect the Eloor and Ambalamugal industrial belt of Kerala to the terminal. Also, work on the pipeline connecting the Kayamkulam Thermal Power station has been slowed down for various reasons.

The pipeline runs in Tamil Nadu covering Coimbatore, Tirupur, Erode, Namakkal, Salem, Dharmapuri, and Krishnagiri districts. A change in the alignment will mean the cost will treble as the project will need to be redesigned to bring in a different class of pipes.

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