May 14 – India’s oil ministry may build a national gas highway to bring a steady supply of natural gas across the country.

Currently, gas pipelines are found mainly in the eastern and western regions while the southern, central and north-eastern regions are lacking. Expanding the pipeline should balance economic and regional growth.

Funds for the project will come from various sources, including a possible cess on domestically-produced natural gas, said petroleum secretary RS Pandey on the sidelines of an industry meeting organized by the India Energy Forum. A cess of 20 percent per mmBtu could earn revenues of Rs 3,000 crore per year. With this amount, the government could build 500-600 km of gas pipelines per year at the cost of Rs 5-6 crore per 1 km of pipeline.

“Industries develop along natural gas pipelines. Hazira-Vijaipur-Jagdishpur (HVJ) pipeline is one such example,” said Pandey.