The new bulk marine liquid storage terminal that has come up at the Ennore Port may soon end the long waiting period for LPG refill cylinderin Tamil Nadu. The integrated bulk liquid jetty to store liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) imported from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi, will save a lot of time and hence prevent piling up of refill demand.

The LPG demand in the State totals 1.32 lakh tonnes a month against the indigenous availability of 32,000 tonnes. The remaining one lakh tonne is imported every month. Till date, the imported LPG used to be stored in facilities at terminals in Visakhapatnam and Mangalore ports, and brought by road to Tamil Nadu.

The new facility at Ennore can store up to six lakh tonnes. Dedicating the facility to the nation on Wednesday, Union Shipping Minister G. K. Vasan said it will benefit the consumers in the State in a big way.

In addition to the marine liquid terminal, the iron ore and non-TNEB coal terminals have also been developed through the public-private-partnership model at an investment of Rs 1,000 crore.

Ennore Tank Terminal Pvt Ltd has built the marine liquid storage terminal at an investment of Rs 250 crore. The laying of an LPG pipeline and mechanical unloading facilities in the port at an investment of Rs 82 crore have been completed.Besides, an additional storage capacity of 1.24 lakh kl for various petro-chemicals, at an investment of Rs 85 crore, has been installed by the company. The total investment in the project stands at Rs 417 crore, said A. Mallesh Rao, Managing Director, Ennore Tank Terminal.

> ravikumar.ramanujam@thehindu.co.in

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