The ruling National Conference-Congress coalition will bring a Bill in the ensuing Budget Session to facilitate the laying of the 750-km-long gas pipeline from Bathinda to Srinagar via Jammu. The move has come after Gujarat State Petronet Limited (GSPL) — which has been entrusted the task of executing the project —approached the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board for getting the legal formalities of the project cleared by the J&K Government on a fast-track basis. The Rs 880-crore gas pipeline project, approved in June this year, was supposed to be completed within 36 months. The project had got stuck in legal hurdles over the acquisition and use of land due to J&K’s special status. “The Union Government has already cleared this prestigious project but the executing agency had been facing problems in land use for laying the prestigious gas pipeline in the state. We have decided to bring a Bill in the upcoming Budget Session (most likely in February) to make the land acquisition process hassle-free and to give the executing agency the right to use the land in the state,” Minister for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CAPD) Qamar Ali Akhoon told The Tribune in an interview here. The minister disclosed this after being asked about the state government’s preparedness on dealing with fuel crisis in the state, especially the snowbound areas, in the wake of the cap on subsidised LPG cylinders. Akhoon said the CAPD Department was the nodal agency for the project at the state level. The Divisional Commissioners of Kashmir and Jammu would oversee the project at the divisional level, while the Deputy Commissioners at the district level. He said the prime objective of the project was to connect J&K with the National Gas Grid through the pipeline and ultimately link individual households with gas stations through a network of supply lines for round-the-clock supply of cooking gas. On the existing LPG crisis in the state, the CAPD minister said the state were caught by surprise due to the sudden announcement about the cap on subsidised LPG cylinders. “We are gradually and steadily trying to streamline the process of registration. Nearly 70 per cent of the verification process and issuance of new connections have been completed,” Akhoon said. He said the state government had also decided to open new outlets for distribution of LPG cylinders at the block level so that the consumers didn’t face any hardship. On the upcoming projects to improve the LPG supply in the Valley, he said three new “auto refilling LPG centres” would be set up at Dalgate, Bijbehara and Magam. “The proposal has been sent to the Union Government and a formal sanction is awaited,” Akhoon said. LPG quota for J&K may increase The CAPD Minister on Tuesday said the Union Government might raise the cap on LPG cylinders from six to nine after the result of Assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. The Centre might accept J-K’s request for increasing the quota of subsidised LPG cylinders keeping in view its topography and long winter, Akhoon added