Petronet LNG to set up LNG terminal near Visakhapatnam

Petronet LNG Ltd, promoted by Indian state-owned oil and gas companies will set up the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on the country's east coast at Gangavaram port near Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.

The first phase of the project would involve a capacity of 5 MMTPA to come up at an investment of Rs4,500 crore.

Petronet LNG is promoted by Indian state-owned oil and gas firms including BPCL, GAIL, IOCL and ONGC.

This would be Petronet LNG's third terminal. The company currently operates two such terminals - one each at Dahej in Gujarat and Kochi in Kerala. While the Dahej terminal would be operational with a capacity of 10MMTPA, the Kochi terminal with a capacity of 5MMTPA would be expected to be operational in another six months.

Petronet LNG today signed term sheet with Gangavaram Port for development of the project to be operational by 2016. The terminal at Gangavaram would comprise of facilities for receipt, storage,  regassification of LNG with a provision for further expansion similar to Petronet LNG's flagship Dahej terminal.

The LNG terminal at Gangavaram would be expected to help Andhra Pradesh meet the growing energy demand as also cater to the increasing gas requirements of eastern and central parts of the country. In a joint statement, Petronet and Gangavaram said at full operational capacity the terminal at Gangavaram would contribute over Rs2,000 crore at value added tax to AP government.