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NTPC Ltd and five others have envisaged interest in the erstwhile Dabhol project, now called Ratnagiri Gas & Power Pvt Ltd (RGPPL), for leasing the liquefied natural gas terminal of RGPPL. A source told , “The company has received response from six companies – Chambal Fertilisers, GMR, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, Essar, RIL, and NTPC.”

RGPPL had called for an expression of interest (EoI) from companies that would like to hire the LNG terminal under a tolling arrangement. The last date of submission of the EoI was April 15.Ratnagiri Gas, which has an integrated power generation and LNG re-gasification facility, has decided to appoint a consultant to evaluate the EoIs, sources said. “By the end of September the company hopes to have completed the task of deciding on the interested players (to deal with).”


RGPPL had decided to lease out its LNG terminal in order to fully utilise its terminal capacity. RGPPL will operate and maintain the terminal for the re-gasification, while the arrangement of LNG cargo, transportation, marketing, distribution and use of re-gasified LNG will be the responsibility of the other party.The company has constructed an LNG terminal with an initial capacity of one million tonnes a year without breakwater facility. With the breakwater facility, the capacity will have a capacity of five mt a year.

It had planned to commission the terminal around April 17, but now the terminal will be commissioned in October.“The reason for the delay is not because the terminal is not ready, but because the Dabhol port is closed from May to September due to the monsoon. So, it (RGPPL) has now been decided to commission the terminal in October,” a source said.


Asked what would be the tolling charges that RGPPL would levy, the source said: “It has not been decided. However, it would be more or less similar to what Petronet LNG Ltd charges.”Petronet charges 60-70 cents (Rs 30-35) for every mBtu. RGPPL will receive the re-gasification charges according to the terms and conditions agreed upon, sources said.

On the returns the company expects by leasing out the LNG terminal, the source said, “We expect to generate significant revenues.”Ratnagiri Gas hopes to generate Rs 140 crore annually by leasing out the one-million-tonne-capacity terminal. Annually the company’s investments on operations, which include port operations and security, would be close to Rs 120 crore.

The company has also decided that only after the tolling agreement is firmed up will it move forward with its proposal for reaching a port operation services agreement.


Source - Hindu businessline