State-run Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has invited bids for the construction of a 5 million tonne per annum LNG terminal at Ennore in Tamil Nadu that can be expanded to 10-15 million tonne in future.
It is expected that Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) may take a 5-10 per cent stake in the project while IOC will hold a majority stake.
Industry sources claim that IOC could offer 26 per cent stake in the project to LNG suppliers like Gazprom of Russia in for the gas that it will eventually supply to the proposed terminal.
Ennore project, expected to be commissioned by 2016, will be the third LNG terminal on the East Coast with state-owned GAIL 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.
The bidders to qualify for the bid must have successfully completed an EPC contract for an LNG re-gasification terminal with minimum capacity of 2.5 million tons per annum or LNG liquefaction facilities of minimum capacity of 2.5 million tons during the last 10 years the tender document said.
The bidder with a minimum annual turnover of $ 200 million during last three years and a net worth of at least $55 million should have carried on its own design, engineering, procurement construction, commissioning and project management for these facilities.
IOC also plans to lay 1,175 km of pipelines to transport gas imported at the Ennore terminal to consumers.
IOC, which operates 10 of India’s 22 refineries with a 30.8 per cent share of the nation’s 213.18 MT per annum refining capacity, plans to invest Rs 56,200 crore during the 12th Plan. Of this, Rs 3,592 crore is earmarked for diversification projects.