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Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) is betting ₹2,448.7 crore on a new natural gas pipeline connecting Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
The deets: the 424.65-km pipeline will connect Kochi in Kerala with Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu and will have a capacity of 6.84 million metric standard cubic metres per day (MMSCMD), including common carrier capacity.
What matters: the pipeline will transport regasified LNG from the Kochi LNG Terminal to key demand centres across Kerala and southern Tamil Nadu, supporting industries, power plants and the expansion of City Gas Distribution (CGD) networks.
It will also strengthen southern India’s existing natural gas network.
Indian Oil already operates the Ennore-Tuticorin-Bengaluru R-LNG Pipeline, which has a capacity of 34.67 MMSCMD and supplies gas to industries and city gas networks across Tamil Nadu.
Some numbers: IOCL’s revenue from operations rose 27% to ₹2.82 lakh crore in Q1FY27. Meanwhile, Indian Oil’s pipelines carried 28.548 million tonnes during the quarter, up from 26.256 million tonnes a year ago.
Big picture: India wants to increase natural gas’ share in its energy mix from around 6% currently to 15% by 2030. To get there, the country plans to expand its gas pipeline network from 25,429 km to 33,475 km, while LNG capacity is expected to grow from 52.7 MMTPA to 66.7 MMTPA by 2030.
IOCL’s new pipeline fits into this larger push, helping move more gas from LNG terminals to cities and industries.
The catch: India’s gas ambitions also come with growing import dependence.
As domestic production has struggled to keep pace, imported gas has taken up a larger share of India’s consumption over the years.
