EIL to invest Rs 1,000 cr in NE

Engineers India Ltd (EIL), the design and engineering company for oil and gas sector, will invest Rs 1,000 crore to construct a gas-to-liquid (GTL) plant in North East India.

The estimated production capacity of the plant is 50,000 barrels per day (bpd), said S Banik, general manager, EIL. "The company is currently in the process of preparing a detailed feasibility report, " he added.

According to industry analysts, the GTL fuels plants were used by the Germans during World War II to produce gasoline and other fuels from coal when they were cut off from oil supplies.

These giant plants use chemical catalysts to convert natural gas into synthetic gas which is further turned into refined products such as gasoline and diesel fuel. "As a major oil importer, India can benefit from this alternate fuel," they pointed out.

Banik said the proposed project will be completed in 3 years with an investment of over Rs 1,000 crore.

"Once the feasibility report is completed, the company will decide upon the investment pattern and technology. EIL is hopeful of fast implementation of the project," he said.

EIL, which is under the administrative control of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, has recently signed an MoU with Petronet LNG to associate on case-to-case basis to bid for overseas LNG projects. The expansion of Panipat refinery of Indian Oil Corporation was also carried out by EIL.

"The economics of the plants are dominated by the initial construction costs, which would be over $300 billion for 14-million bpd facilities at international standards. The revenues from the fuels will amount to over $2 trillion in 20 years," analysts said.