Ennore Port (EPL) received approval of the union cabinet to lease land measuring 520,000 square metre to a joint venture led by state-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC) for the 5 million tonne a year liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal project.
While IOC will hold majority stake in the joint venture, Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) may take a 5-10 per cent stake in the project.
The port would lease the land for 30 years to IOC, which is setting up the LNG storage and re-gasification terminal at a cost of Rs 4,320 crore, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tiwari told media persons.
The proposed terminal is expected to be ready by 2016.
The terminal will have an initial capacity of 5 million tonne per annum which can be expanded to 10 or 15 million tonne in future.
Ennore will be the third LNG terminal on the east coast with state-owned gas utility GAIL India building a facility at Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh and Petronet LNG setting up a 5 million tonne facility at Gangavaram in Andhra Pradesh.
Royal Dutch Shell also plans to set up a floating LNG terminal at Kakinada. LNG is a natural gas that has been cooled down to liquid form, taking up just 1/600th of the volume in its gaseous state for ease of transportation by sea.
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