OREANDA-NEWS. June 8, 2011. GAIL (India) Ltd is likely to make a renewed bid to take over West Bengal government-controlled city gas distribution company Greater Calcutta Gas Supply Corp. Ltd (GCGSC), which has an underground gas pipeline in Kolkata. GAIL has received “in-principle approval” to pursue “several projects” in the state, chairman and managing director B.C. Tripathi said after an hour-long meeting with West Bengal’s commerce and industries minister Partha Chatterjee on Tuesday.

He did not give details of the projects GAIL was considering. “We have asked them to submit expressions of interest,” Chatterjee said. “We have assured them that there will be no delay in clearing them.” Tripathi said GAIL will send a letter to chief minister Mamata Banerjee on what the company intends to do in the state and submit expressions of interest within three days. GAIL had in 2003 proposed to acquire GCGSC, a defunct company, but initial talks did not lead to a deal.

The investment plans of GAIL include city gas distribution infrastructure in four cities of West Bengal—Kolkata, Howrah, Durgapur and Asansol—according to a state government official who did not want to be identified. The company also intends to invest in building a transmission network for liquefied natural gas in the state, the official said, adding that it would be a “great boost” for the industry.