The Hindu Business Line : `LNG plant near Dabhol to be completed by Sept'

GAIL (India) Ltd has said that it would complete the remaining portion of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant adjacent to the Dabhol power project by the end of September.

The company is also in talks with Qatar, Oman, Malaysia, Australia, and Abu Dhabi for sourcing gas.

Speaking to media persons at the sidelines of the `Asia Gas Partnership Summit-2006,' Mr Proshanto Banerjee, CMD GAIL said, "The LNG receiving terminal was 70 per cent complete when we took over the Dabhol Power Company. We are currently doing assessment studies which we hope to complete by mid March and will award contract for job completion by end March."

He said that the plant would be completed in about six months. The 740-MW phase I of plant would begin operations by May by using naphtha as fuel, he said. "By September end, we hope to tie up LNG for the 2,184-MW power plant," he added.

The company would be investing close to Rs 3,000 crore next fiscal in laying pipelines and expanding capacity of its petrochemical plant. The major pipelines to be implemented next fiscal include the Dahej-Uran pipeline and Dabhol-Panvel pipeline. Mr Banerjee said the company would invest Rs 700 crore in expanding the capacity of its Pata Petrochemical plant in Uttar Pradesh from 3,10,000 tonnes per annum to 4,50,000 tpa by December, 2006.

On the integrated energy policy recommendation of the Kirit Parikh committee, Mr Banerjee said that such policy would relieve some pressure on the surging demand for oil and gas in India. He said while the world was busy looking at more oil and gas, the Kirit Parikh committee had rightly assessed that coal would continue to be source of primary energy for India. More than 50 per cent of energy requirement up to 2031-32 is expected to come from coal.

He said coal had been playing a dominant role as a source of primary energy and technological advancement has now found a bridge between coal and the environment in the shape of clean coal technologies. The country has estimated reserves of 1,400 to 2,600 billion cubic metre of coal bed methane, which is equivalent to 40 to 75 years of current levels of consumption of natural gas.

More Stories on : New Projects | Power | GAIL (India) Ltd

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page