Mumbai: India Gas Solutions, a 50:50 partnership between Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries and BP, is in a four-cornered contest to bag the rights for setting up a 5m tonnes per annum (tpa) capacity floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal at Mumbai port.
Three other entities – Japan’s Mitsui, Excelerate Energy of the US, and a consortium of India’s IMC and Norway’s Hoegh LNG – have put in bids with the Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) for the terminal, estimated to cost INR27.40bn ($428m).
As per the tender document, the selected bidder will set up the floating storage and regasification unit (FRSU) on PPP (public-private partnership) basis, and run it on the Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) model.
Mumbai, one of India’s oldest ports, will boast the fifth LNG terminal on India’s west coast, and the second in Maharashtra state. It will have a storage capacity of 170,000 cu metres and 5m tpa gas production capacity. There will also be a marine terminal, inclusive of berthing facilities, for FRSU and LNG carriers, pipeline to transfer the gas to onshore, and landfall receipt facility.
Neighbouring Gujarat has two operational terminals – Petronet LNG’s 12.5m tpa terminal at Dahej, and Shell’s 5m tpa terminal at Hazira. A third one is being constructed at Mundra by Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation.
