Two smaller projects for northern India were also approved.

The first involves laying down a 275-km pipeline from Karanpur to Rudrapur at Rs.2,500 crore, while the second involves upgrading the existing Bajera-Ferozabad pipeline at an investment of Rs.2,000 crore.

GAIL has a network of 7,100 km of gas pipelines that carry 155 million metric standard cubic metres of natural gas per day through the country.

It now has drawn up plans to invest nearly Rs.28,000 crore to build another 5,000 km of pipelines that will double its carrying capacity.

Meanwhile, GAIL has reported a decline in its net profit by 26.8 percent for the first quarter ending June 30, compared to the year-ago period.

Net sales, however, rose to Rs.6,021 crore during the quarter compared to Rs.5,730 crore the corresponding period the previous fiscal.