South India will start getting natural gas from the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin by 2012 through three new gas pipelines, according to union petroleum secretary S Sundareshan.

While speaking to reporters on Saturday in Chennai, Sundareshan said that there is shortage of gas supply in southern India when compared to northern and western parts of the country, and the government was committed to ensure uniform availability of gas throughout the country by putting up a good network of pipelines.

State-owned gas major Gas Authority of India Ltd (Gail) will lay a pipeline connecting Bangalore and Chennai while Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) will build a pipeline between Kakinada and Chennai which will be later extended to the southern city of Thoothukudi, and also lay another pipeline between Chennai and Bangalore.

The secretary said that the government has asked both the companies to implement the projects in a ''strict timeframe''.

The government had already sanctioned GAIL to construct pipelines from Dhabol to Bangalore, and Mangalore to Cochin with connectivity to Goa and Bangalore.

RIL would also lay a pipeline from Kakinada to Haldia and Gail would build a pipeline from Haldia to Jagdishpur.

"All the pipelines to the south will be ready by mid 2012. With this, the pipeline connectivity will come to the south. There is no need for any concern now," Sundareshan said.

Three major consumers in Tamil Nadu whose operations are suffering for want of natural gas, Madras Fertilisers, Southern Petrochemical Industries Corporation, and Chennai Petroleum Corporation will also be connected to the grid.

The KG basin currently produces around 60 million metric standard cubic metres per day (mmscmd) of gas, which is expected to go up in the next 3-4 years on account of new gas finds in the field, according to the secretary.

On the gas pricing front, the secretary said that the government is working on equitable pricing of natural gas irrespective of its source.

At present, there is huge difference in the price of gas which varies from Rs3,200 per mmscmd for ONGC and OIL produced gas for power and fertilizer industry to over Rs8,500 per mmscmd in the Gujarat market.