With a view to build infrastructure for distributing gas to industrial consumers in the state, the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) plans to enter into a joint venture with GAIL India, soon.

"The JV Company would tap GAIL's trunk pipeline between Tarapur in Mumbai and Dabhol in Ratnagiri. Artilleries and spur pipelines would be set up along the trunk pipeline to supply gas to the industries on its periphery," MIDC's Chief Executive Officer, Dr Kshatrapati Shivaji, told PTI here today.

Currently, the state's gas requirement is about 40-million standard cubic metres a day, of which about 60 per cent demand is from the industrial segment.

The Corporation and GAIL would have a 50:50 equity and debt sharing. However, Dr Shivaji did not reveal the investment details saying that they would be finalised over the next two-months.

"We are also in talks with other major gas suppliers including Reliance Industries and the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation for similar tie-ups," he said.

The state government is also contemplating setting-up a gas grid in the state to provide natural gas easily to the industrial estates in the state.