The Government of India has launched a major plan to make the country’s energy or gas supply more secure and reliable. Currently, India has to import a large amount of natural gas from abroad. Much of this gas comes through sea routes that can be unstable or disrupted at any moment. So, keeping in mind the future of the country, the government is looking for a new and sustainable way to solve this problem.
A new project is being discussed to solve this problem. The project envisages laying a very long undersea natural gas pipeline from Oman to the Gujarat coast of India. It is called the Middle East-India Deep-Water Pipeline or MEIDP for short. The main objective is to ensure that India has direct access to gas through secure pipelines. This will eliminate the need to bring LNG by ship every time and greatly reduce the dependence on unstable sea routes such as the Strait of Hormuz.
The pipeline could be around 2,000 km long. It is planned to be placed at a depth of about four and a half kilometers in the sea. Construction and maintenance of pipelines at such depths is considered a technically difficult and challenging task. The entire project is estimated to cost around Rs 40,000 crore. The project may take around five to seven years to complete once it gets the green signal from the government.
Currently, gas consumption in India is growing very rapidly and the demand is likely to increase in the coming years. Recently, due to various wars and tensions around the world, the supply of LNG has decreased and its price has increased abnormally. This shows how dangerous the current import regime can be for the future. Therefore, the government and experts believe that the construction of the pipeline will strengthen the country’s energy security and reduce the fluctuation of gas prices. Other countries like China have already ensured their energy security through pipelines. Now, India wants to move in the same direction not just for infrastructure development but as an important strategic initiative.
