Pressure On The Gas Line

The January 22 attacks disrupted gas, oil and power supplies across Assam. "We are shocked at the hefty extortion demand...when we have plans to invest Rs 3,300 crore in Assam," ONGC CMD Subir Raha told Outlook. The 291 MW gas-based power plant at Kathalguri, eastern Assam, was shut down after a six-metre stretch of the main gas supply pipeline was blown up, leading to an immediate shortfall of 100 MW of power. Assam consumes 700 MW of power at any given point. Oil India Limited (OIL) had to close down at least nine gas wells as 1.4 million cubic metres of natural gas consumed by the power plant per day had suddenly been left unutilised. The morning after, national security advisor M.K. Narayanan duly informed Goswami that the next round of talks with the PCG had been fixed for February 7. Was it the ULFA strikes which speeded up the process?