Punj Lloyd bags 498 cr order from Reliance Gas

New Delhi, July 27: Leading engineering and construction firm, Punj Lloyd has bagged a Rs 498 crore contract from Reliance Gas Transportation and Infrastructure Ltd (RGTIL), for part of its East-West Pipeline project for laying of pipeline and associated facilities in Gujarat and Maharashtra.

This order is inclusive of the order placed earlier by RGTIL to the company for Rs 180.16 crore.

The contract is for laying of 48 inch pipeline and associated facilities for 285 km and the work is split into four spreads falling in the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra.

Major highlights of the order are laying 48 inch diameter, 285 km of pipeline with varying wall thickness and working in hilly terrain with slopes as steep as 60 degrees in Bhivpuri Ghat.

Apart from this, Punj Lloyd, through its subsidiary PLN Construction, has been awarded crossings of Narmada River and Elluru Canal by horizontal directional drilling method.

The work is scheduled to be completed by December 2007 end.

In the long run, Reliance Industries Ltd plans to invest between Rs 25,000 crore and Rs 30,000 crore in a pipeline grid that covers main gas transport trunk lines supplemented by spur lines crisscrossing four major States initially, followed by a pan-India network.

It expects to eventually lay pipelines stretching about 10,000 km across the country.

RIL's RGTIL would complete work on the national grid of pipeline and the phase one envisages coverage across four States of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan, to be completed within 18 months.

UNI