Now, Bengal awaits Adani’s green gas biz
Finally, there could be some green energy hope for Bengal. After limited success in coal bed methane (CBM) exploration, Bengal may finally get access to sufficient green energy – courtesy the Adani group. An Adani group official said here that the Ahmedabad-based multi-billion infrastructure-to-edible oil major would be interested to bring natural gas from Dhamra port to Haldia in three years’ time. The group is setting up an LNG terminal at Dhamra.
“We are hoping that in next three years, green gas can move from Dhamra to Haldia and then may be to Kolkata,” the official added. It is learnt that petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) has already floated a tender for a laying out a pipeline from Dhamra in Odisha to Haldia in Bengal. The 350km pipeline will be built to bring liquified natural gas (LNG) to further east. “Indian Oil (IOC) and Hiranandani group have already filed expression of interest (EoI) for the proposed pipeline,” said a source.
It is learnt that Adani group would start building the LNG terminal once the construction of pipeline starts. “We shall only operate the terminal. Any operator can import gas and liquify it in the terminal then it can be supplied through the pipeline,” he added.
The much-talked-about gas pipeline project of Reliance Industries from KG Basin to Haldia and the GAIL pipeline from Jagadishpur are yet to see the light of day. Hi Energy (P) Ltd, the energy arm of Hiranandani group, was also planning to set up an offshore LNG terminal near Digha coast to bring gas to Bengal and eastern states. The total investment envisaged was Rs 4,000 crore.
However, the project is currently facing regulatory hurdles. The group had earlier said that it was planning to build and operate a world-class floating storage re-gasification unit with the ultimate capacity of six million tonne per annum. On the other hand both the Reliance and Gail projects could not make much headway because of land acquisition and the right-of-way hurdle. The pipeline conceived by RIL was 1,100km long while the Gail pipeline was 800km long.