PNGRB approves sale of East-West gas pipeline to Brookfield

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board has reportedly approved the sale of the East-West Gas Pipeline to Brookfield Asset Management, Inc. East West Pipeline Limited, previously known as Reliance Gas Transportation Infrastructure Limited, built this 1,400 km pipeline from Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh to Bharuch in Gujarat for transporting the natural gas discovered in the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin block operated by RIL. However, the pipeline is currently operating at less than 5 per cent of its capacity as output from the KG-D6 block fell sooner than expected. The Competition Commission of India had in September 2018 approved the transaction where Brookfield is sponsoring an infrastructure investment trust called India Infrastructure Trust as the acquisition vehicle. This will be Brookfield’s first investment in the energy sector in India. The acquisition price has, however, not been disclosed.