New Delhi, June 26 (Inditop.com) State-run gas major GAIL India will invest Rs.7,500 crore ($1.5 billion) to develop two major pipelines in southern India, the company said Friday.

Of this investment, Rs.4,500 crore would be spent on the 1,389-km Dabhol-Bangalore pipeline, which would have a capacity of 16 million standard cubic metres a day (mmscmd), a company statement said.

The second project – Kochi to Mangalore – will cost Rs.3,000 crore, and this too would have a capacity for 16 mmscmd.

GAIL chairman U.D. Choubey Friday called on Karnataka Chief Secretary Sudhakar Rao in Bangalore to discuss the projects.

A GAIL release said the chief secretary assured full support from the state government for the implementation of the projects.

GAIL’s pipeline network has a current capacity of 155 mmscmd of natural gas. It has a target to build 5,000 km of pipelines in the 11th plan period, which will double the capacity to 300 mmscmd.