Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

`LNG terminal work to be completed in 42 months'

Special Correspondent

Petronet LNG chief project officer tells Industries Minister

Thiruvananthapuram: The work on the LNG terminal coming up in Kochi will be completed within 42 months.

This was conveyed by Petronet LNG chief project officer Jacob Thomas to Industries Minister Elamaram Karim at a meeting convened to review the progress of infrastructure and industrial development projects coming up in the Central public sector in Kochi.

The meeting was attended by Industries Principal Secretary T. Balakrishnan and N. Chandran Pillai, MP.

The Minister extended all assistance on the part of the State Government for uninterrupted work on the terminal. He offered to set up an industrial relations committee to settle labour disputes, if need arose.

The other projects which were reviewed at the meeting included the Rs.2,500-crore gas pipeline and the Rs.7,500-crore petro chemical complex projects of GAIL, and the Rs.2,560-crore development project and the Rs.800-crore single-buoy mooring project of Kochi Refineries Ltd (KRL).

It was decided to convene another meeting in the presence of Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan to take steps to complete the projects in a time-bound manner.

The Central PSUs were asked to give in writing their problems and requirements.

The LNG Terminal will have a capacity of 25 lakh tonnes. The LNG will be brought from Australia.

The representatives of Petronet LNG said the agreement would be signed within two or three months.

No supply to NTPC now

There was no proposal at present to supply LNG from the terminal to the Kayamkulam plant of the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC).

The NTPC too had not shown any interest in it. The representatives of Petronet LNG felt the thermal plant would require LNG only when its capacity was raised from 350 to 2,100 MW.

The capacity of the terminal would have to be increased to 50 lakh tonnes if the petro chemical complex was to come up.

Such issues would have to be thrashed out in the presence of the Chief Minister.

The help of MPs would be sought in bringing to the Union Government's attention issues that required its intervention.

GAIL general manager Gopinath Swamy said the work on the pipeline would begin once the arrival of LNG was ensured.

The pipeline would be from Kochi to Bangalore and Mangalore. The work would be completed within 36 months.

GAIL also proposed to supply gas to the city.

A company with equal participation of GAIL and Bharat Petroleum would be set up for the purpose.

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