GSPL may pick up 25% stake in Mundra LNG

Gujarat State Petronet Ltd (GSPL), a group company of Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC), is in advanced talks with GSPC-Adani consortium for picking up about 25 per cent stake in the proposed 20-MMTPA LNG project at Mundra in Gujarat.

“GSPC has held talks with a couple of other companies including Essar and HPCL for a joint venture in the LNG project. However, the talks with them have failed to fructify. We are now aiming to rope in GSPL as a partner in the project,” said a senior government official privy to the development.

He however, refused to comment on the deal size. Currently, GSPC holds 51 per cent stake in the project while Adani will hold about 25 per cent stake. GSPC LNG, a special purpose vehicle floated for LNG business, is aiming to set up a liquefied natural gas terminal with an initial capacity of 6.5 MMTPA that will be ramped up to 7.5 MMTPA after re-gasification in the first phase. The first phase is likely to be commissioned in 2012, sources said.

The first phase will involve an investment of about Rs 3,500 crore which includes setting up of two tanks with a capacity of 160K each and a jetty. The net capacity of the project to be completed in about three phases will be about 20 MMTPA. The overall investment size is being estimated at Rs 8,000 crore.

The consortium is aiming to re-claim about 28 hectares of land from the sea for the first phase and about 70 hectares would be required for setting up 20 MMTPA.

GSPC LNG has roped in Brussels based Tractebel Engineering as technical advisor to the project. Tractebel has expertise ranging from gas collection to LNG installations and gas pipelines, up to city gate and distribution networks, including underground storage.

As part of its strategy to enter into the LNG trading business, GSPC has imported LNG cargo in the past.

Last year In September, the state PSU imported cargo fro Qatargas on a spot basis, making it the first Indian non-terminal owner to have independently purchased such cargoes. Gas from the cargo was received at Petronet LNG’s R-LNG receiving & re-gassification terminal at Dahej.

GSPC is also aiming to tap the capital markets by coming up with an initial public offer in the range of $1-1.5 billion before the end of this calendar year, government sources said.