GAIL (India) Ltd and Paradip Port Trust (PPT) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) here on Saturday to construct an LNG terminal with floating storage and regasification facilities.

PPT Chairman S. S. Mishra and GAIL Executive Director Sanjib Datta signed the MoU in the presence of Union Shipping Minister G.K. Vasan, Shipping Secretary Dr. Viswapati Trivedi and the chairmen of several major ports.

First phase

GAIL will set up the first phase with a capacity of 4 million tons per annum (4.8 mtpa in peak condition) and a storage capacity of 170,000 cubic metres, to be doubled in the second phase. The first phase will entail an investment of Rs 3,108 crore.

PPT will spend Rs 650 crore towards construction of breakwater and dredging for the project, while GAIL will bear the balance expense of Rs 2,458 crore. The project is slated for commissioning in 2017.

The project will bring Odisha on the world LNG map, said Vasan. He urged both private and public sector companies to develop LNG infrastructure in major ports and exploit the resultant opportunities.

Trivedi pointed out that the advantage of a joint venture between a major port and a central PSU is that they both possess a common DNA. He expressed hope that the capacity of the port will double to 1.2 billion tonnes by the end of the 12th Plan.

“Nearly 90 per cent of issues in PPP projects have been satisfactorily resolved,” he observed.

GAIL’s Datta said the commissioning of the Paradip LNG terminal will speed up the laying of his organisation’s proposed gas pipelines between Paradip and Surat, and Haldia and Jagdishpur.

> santanu.sanyal@thehindu.co.in

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW