GAIL (India) Ltd., Mumbai, earlier this month commissioned the 5-million tonne/year Dabhol LNG terminal at Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, about 210 miles south of Mumbai.
The terminal will send out natural gas to the southern and western states of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu, reported GAIL. In the immediate future, it said sendout from the terminal will meet demand in Maharashtra through GAIL’s Dabhol-Panvel pipeline connected to Maharashtra regional pipeline network.
The terminal is operated by RGPPL, a joint venture of GAIL and NTPC Ltd., India’s largest power company.
The company also said it was in an advanced stage of commissioning the nearly 870-mile Dhabol-Bengaluru pipeline.
GAIL Chairman and Managing Director Shri BC Tripathi also said the new terminal would expand over 2-3 years first to 7.5 million tpy of capacity, then to 10 million tpy.
Commissioning of the Dabhol terminal along with GAIL’s cross-country gas pipeline network will integrate the entire gas market of India from Bhatinda-Nangal in North to Kochi in the south, spanning a gas grid of more than 2,100 miles. Gazprom Marketing & Trading Singapore supplied the commissioning cargo aboard the 138,000-cu m LNG Pioneer.
Dahej and Hazira are currently the only operating LNG terminals in India.
