Essar to set up 4 small & medium LNG terminals

HYDERABAD: Essar Ports is looking to set up a cluster of small and medium sized terminals for handling liquefied natural gas on India’s west and east coasts to capitalise on the growing demand for the cleaner fuel. The company, part of the Essar Group, which has interests in ports and shipping, has identified land on both the coasts and plans to come up with two terminals in the first phase and two in second phase, with capacities ranging from 2.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) to 5 mtpa.

The move is being considered partly as a hedge against the low iron ore exports due to high prices resulting in lower handling capacities.

“We are adopting this cluster based approach for LNG instead of having one large terminal as the market is spread all over and hence, you need to go to the market rather than expect the market to come to you,” said Essar Ports CEO Rajiv Agarwal. “Also, with low prices of LNG and increasing usage by automobiles and industries, the demand for this cleaner fuel is increasing.” The company identified a land parcel at Hazira port in Gujarat.