Large areas of about 500 000 km2 between Mumbai and Bhopal and in Gujarat are covered by thick basalt layers. If basalt is shown to be a suitable cap rock, it is estimated that this would allow storage of 300 Gt C02 (Sonde, 2007). Three of the nine sites designated so far for UMPP projects are on the coast not far from these potential storage areas.13 For inland sites relying on domestic coal, additional costs of USD 5/tC02 for transporting the C02 are expected compared to coastal sites (Mott MacDonald, 2008). Gas consumption has been rapidly growing at a rate of 8% between 1990 and 2009.