Essar to Develop LNG Terminal at Haldia
India's Essar Ports has won a contract to build the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in West Bengal under the Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) at an investment of Rs 450 crore (USD 70 million).
A Press Trust of India report said that the LNG project is expected to be commissioned in two years. The facility will come up at the Haldia port with a capacity to store one million tonne of the clean fuel.
Haldia Dock Complex under Kolkata Port Trust had earlier this year invited bids for setting up an LNG terminal with storage and distribution facilities.
Essar Ports, in consortium with Ultra LNG and Essar Shipping, had participated in the tender and emerged as the highest bidder for the project, beating state-owned Petronet and private operator V Energy.
The project follows a bid floated by the Calcutta Port Trust (CPT) last year inviting companies to set up storage and distribution facilities in Haldia .
Haldia being a low-draft river port, the 1 MT terminal will serve as a daughter facility to sea port-based LNG terminals.