Investments in a gas pipeline network raises many questions.  Who should be responsible? The central government, the state government; the public sector; the private sector; and/or all of them. Hitherto GAIL has had the mandate but the Gujarat government has also invested in pipelines and of course Reliance too.  This has caused ruffles in the relationship between the Centre and the state and, one reads, also between GAIL and Reliance. 

Pipelines are a utility. They should be accessible to all producers on terms that are fair and which assure the pipeline investor a fair return on the capital invested.  The rules should also ensure against conflicts of interest. A producer should not be the authority that determines pipeline access. Ultimately the government and the regulator have to create conditions that lead to a competitive and efficient gas market — one that encourages competent players to invest in the infrastructure and which at the same time protects the consumers from price gouging and discrimination? If such conditions are not created then the blueprint of a national pipeline gas grid will remain just that — a blueprint.

The writer is chairman of the

Shell Group of Companies in India. The views expressed are personal