A K Balyan, CEO and MD of Petronet LNG Ltd, said that the LNG terminal at Puthuvypeen will commence operation by the first month of next year. He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the visit of Union Food and Civil Supplies Minister K V Thomas at the terminal here on Saturday. Balyan said that the Petronet is all set to commence the operation of LNG terminal.
“The works have almost completed and test operations are going on. The tanker vessels will arrive here soon. The test for the docking of the ships will be conducted soon. The work on the pipeline connecting the terminal with Kayamkulam, locations in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu has to be started, he said.
When asked about the delay in commissioning the project, he said that there was no major delay. “In the initial stage we had the plan to set up a plant of 2.5 metric tonnes capacity but later it was increased to five metric tonnes which caused the delay. But considering the additional capacity, we suffered a delay of just 100 days. The hartals are also a reason for the delay. The less productivity of labourers was also an issue,” he pointed out.
He added that a discussion is being held with the government on setting up of a plant for electricity generation using LNG. “If everything goes well it will be another major project coming in the area,” he said.
K V Thomas said that the LNG terminal will be major relief for the state as we depend on other states to fulfil the soaring demand for the cooking gas. With the completion of LNG pipeline cooking gas will be available at half the price of cylinders.
The minister also held discussions with MLAs S Sharma and Dominic Presentation and Elankunnapuzha panchayat president Beaty Joseph.
“MLAs and other leaders of the area raised concerns over the trouble faced by the fishermen and the safety of the people living near by. These concerns will be intimated to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and a solution to them will be sorted out,” Thomas said.
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