Citing an anonymous company official the report stated, “IOC plans to build the terminal to cater to the fuel needs of its subsidiary, Chennai Petroleum, and supply regasified LNG to prospective industries in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka who are willing to switch over from liquid fuel to natural gas.
“IOC has already entered into agreements with some power companies in Tamil Nadu for sale of regasified LNG [and] discussions are also in progress with the Tata group, which has evinced keen interest in setting up an integrated power plant with the LNG import terminal.
“We have [also] called for bids seeking 2.5 million tonne per annum (130 trillion British Thermal Units) LNG for 20 years with a possibility of doubling the quantity,” added the insider.
In related news, the IOC informant has revealed the future of the Krishnapatnam project in Andhra Pradesh is in uncharted waters.
Speaking to the PTI, the official said, “IOC is the lead promoter of the planned Rs 6,100 crore (US$1.3 billion) LNG import project at Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, but is now planning its own terminal away from [the state]. Besides, partner British Petroleum has walked out of the project.”
“The Krishnapatnam project is not yet shelved but if we don’t win the tender for supply of gas to Karnataka Power Corp’s Bidadi power plant near Bangalore, the project has a bleak future,” added the insider.
