Petroleum Ministry assure LNG to Dabhol

New Delhi, Nov 16 (UNI) The Petroleum Ministry has assured Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) supplies to fuel the Dabhol project which is running with costlier naphta now and the cost of generation would be Rs five per unit.

Power Secretary R V Shahi said the Petroleum Ministry has assured of LNG supplies for the Dabhol project renamed Ratnagiri Gas and Power Private Ltd (RGPPL). Also, Reliance Industries has also expressed their interest to supply LNG to the plant.

"The Petroleum Ministry has assured us of gas or LNG supplies starting end of March 2007," Mr Shahi said on the sidelines of a Power Ministers' conference.

Reliance said it would supply 6-8 mmscmd of gas beginning from the second half of 2008. The gas would be supplied through the 1,385 km long Kakinada-Bharuch pipeline..

The Government has asked the Petroleum Ministry in September to evaluate various options, including sourcing gas from RIL, for the project, which was shut down in July due to monsoon besides lack of naphtha to run the plant.

The project was re-started again on November 1, but only the 740 MW block-II of the 2,184 MW project is being run on imported naphtha as the new promoters, GAIL and NTPC, have not been able to sign deals for natural gas. With naphtha being used, the cost of generation is likely to be more than Rs 5 per unit.

UNI/RT SBA RS1911