Build LNG terminal in AP east coast: Kiran Reddy to Centre
Andhra Pradesh government has requested the Centre to build a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal on the east coast of the state to meet natural gas requirements of critical industrial sectors.
September 08, 2011 / 21:44 IST
Andhra Pradesh government has requested the Centre to build a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal on the east coast of the state to meet natural gas requirements of critical industrial sectors.
Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy wrote a letter to Union Petroleum Minister S Jaipal Reddy in this regard today and said the LNG terminal would help in industrial development in the region and thereby boost economic growth of the state.Sectors like power, fertilisers, steel, refineries as well as the city gas distribution network required LNG and Re-liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG), but were currently facing a short supply, he said.While 12.97 million metric standard cubic meters per day (MMSCMD) of natural gas was required for the nine gas-based power projects in operation in the state, only 9.75 MMSCMD was available from the Reliance's D-6 field and ONGC."The 3.22 MMSCMD deficit in natural gas supply is resulting in a loss of 600 MW of power generation out of the total installed capacity of 2770 MW. Besides, additional gas is also required for the 2100 MW gas-based power plant coming up in Karimnagar district and for the many private power
plants being set up in the KG basin districts. The total natural gas requirement for these plants will be around 30 MMSCMD," the Chief Minister wrote.The only mechanism at present to supply LNG to willing customers in Andhra Pradesh is swapping of KG D-6 gas and RLNG being procured on the west-coast. "In this barter transaction, consumers are required to pay marketing margin, transportation charges and applicable intra-state and inter-state taxes for sourcing of RLNG apart from the base price. This approximately comes to an additional USD 5-6 per million metric British Thermal unit on the base
price," the Chief Minister noted.To avoid these complexities and also to utilise RLNG on long term basis, there is an urgent need to set up an LNG terminal on the east-coast of Andhra Pradesh for enabling economic and industrial growth of the state, he said."I, therefore, seek your intervention to instruct GAIL & Petronet LNG to initiate necessary measures to set up an LNG terminal on the east coast to plug the natural gas deficit to various vital sectors," he added. Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
