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GAIL (India) Ltd has completed the 694-kilometre Mumbai-Nagpur Natural Gas Pipeline, marking a first-of-its-kind integration of a high-capacity gas pipeline within a narrow utility corridor along Maharashtra's Samruddhi Mahamarg expressway. Built largely inside a three-metre-wide strip, the project showcases the potential of the PM GatiShakti framework to align transport and energy infrastructure while minimising land acquisition and social impact. Despite complex engineering challenges, including difficult terrain in the Western Ghats and multiple statutory clearances, the pipeline is nearing full operational readiness. With significant implications for city gas distribution, cleaner fuel adoption and industrial growth across Maharashtra, the project is now being viewed as a blueprint for future multi-utility corridor development in India.
GAIL (India) Ltd has successfully completed the Mumbai-Nagpur Natural Gas Pipeline (MNPL), a 694-kilometre trunk pipeline that runs almost entirely within a three-metre-wide utility corridor along Maharashtra's Samruddhi Mahamarg expressway. The project represents India's first major example of integrating a high-capacity energy pipeline into a dense transport corridor under the PM GatiShakti framework. Advertisement
Of the total length, around 675 kilometres, or nearly 96 per cent, has been laid inside the expressway's narrow utility strip. Conventional gas pipelines typically require a right of way of 20-30 metres, making the MNPL's execution within such constrained space an unprecedented engineering challenge. The 24-inch pipeline was constructed while coordinating closely with multiple expressway packages executed by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation, requiring daily synchronisation between road and pipeline teams.
The pipeline has a capacity of about 16.5 million standard cubic metres per day and is designed for bi-directional flow, strengthening its role as a key link in the National Gas Grid. One of the most complex sections passed through the Western Ghats near Fugale hill, where elevation differences exceeded 200 metres and conditions included rocky terrain, dense forests and heavy monsoon rainfall. Engineers adopted a hybrid approach combining horizontal directional drilling with a thruster system to pull nearly one kilometre of pipeline through steep gradients, a technique rarely deployed in India.
The project also required navigating multiple forest, railway and highway crossings across 10 districts. Although regulatory authorisation was received in May 2020, execution was delayed due to the pandemic and forest clearances, which were granted in April 2023. GAIL adjusted construction sequencing to maintain momentum as approvals were secured.
Economically, the MNPL is expected to significantly expand natural gas access across Maharashtra, enabling city gas distribution in 16 districts, supporting piped natural gas connections for an estimated 95 lakh households and supplying fuel to over 1,700 CNG stations. The pipeline is also expected to catalyse industrial growth, logistics hubs and cleaner energy adoption along the Samruddhi corridor.
Infrastructure planners now view the MNPL as a blueprint for future corridor-based infrastructure, demonstrating how expressways can double as utility corridors to accelerate energy networks while reducing land acquisition challenges.
Source - PTI
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