The country's premier shipping line , the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), is in parleys with most of the prospective LNG(liqueified natural gas) players in the country for bagging LNG transportation contracts.
Disclosing this sources in SCI said, "In some cases the discussions are at an advanced stage, while in others preliminary parleys are underway".
SCI is talking to majors like Dabhol Power Company (DPC), the Essar -Shell consortium, HPCL-Total and the Tata Electric Companies(TEC)-Total consortium.
In the case of the Enron-promoted DPC, which is executing the 2,184 MW power project at Dabhol in Maharashtra, the second phase of the project will be LNG fired. Enron is planning to import gas not only for its own requirements, but also plans to supply excess gas to other parts of Maharashtra.
DPC has already shortlisted two shipping lines, the Norway based Leif Hoegh and the Mitsui OSK Line of Japan, through the competitive bidding route. The final contract is yet to be awarded. SCI did not make any bids when the tender was floated and jumped into the fray much later. "DPC said that they could not award the contract to us as the tender process was already through, although they are keen to have domestic partners. We are therefore negotiating with Leif Hoegh and Mitsui OSK with the support of DPC," SCI sources added.
The Essar-Royal Dutch Shell consortium is planning to set up an LNG terminal in Hazira to feed the Essar 515mw power plant and its steel unit. Besides, Essar is also planning to double the capacity of its power plant.
HPCL-Total is planning an LNG terminal at Visakahapatnam in Andhra Pradesh while TEC-Total has a similar project on the cards in the west coast of Mahrashtra.All the upcoming projects are in the vicinity of power plants.
SCI has identified LNG transportation as a growth area. However, it may not find the going easy
It's earlier attempt to pick up equity in Petronet LNG, a consortium of the oil majors, BPCL, IOC, GAIL and ONGC, came a cropper. Besides, a Committee set up by the government to formulate the national shipping policy headed by the director-general of shipping, M P Pinto, had recommended that the carriage of LNG be reserved exclusively for Indian shipping lines. This was not accepted by the centre.
The criticism against local shipping lines in general and SCI, in particular, is that they lack the expertise to carry LNG.
There is not a single LNG carrier owned by an Indian shipping line.
SCI sources counter that they have highly technically skilled manpower who can adapt to LNG ships fast. SCI plans to go ahead with the training of manpower on foreign LNG ships soon.
Besides, it has expertise in transporting LPG, which sources say is not dissimilar to carriage of LNG. SCI may also be allowed to pick up equity in a Petronet LNG subsidiary, they added.
