Government may sell Dabhol LNG import terminal to Petronet

25 August 2006

Mumbai: The government is planning to offload the unfinished LNG import terminal of the Dabhol power project. SBI Caps, which has been appointed to look out for a buyer, is reported to have recommended Petronet LNG as a favoured entity.

The LNG terminal will be hived off from the power generating unit before selling it.

Power ministry sources say the sale is due mainly to delays in completion of the unfinished part of the terminal and huge cost-overruns,

Ratnagiri Gas and Power, the special purpose vehicle that has taken over DPC, had estimated an outgo of Rs710 crore for completing 15 per cent of the work on the incomplete LNG terminal. However, the revised estimates state that the work would need an additional Rs1,000 crore.

Ratnagiri Gas and Power Pvt Ltd is a joint venture of GAIL and NTPC.

Along with an estimated transfer cost of Rs1,790 crore, the total cost of the Dabhol LNG terminal has been put at Rs3,500 crore.