LNG may help keep power tariff low

Karnataka to gain once pipelines are laid: Petronet

The price of LNG has a direct relation with the crude oil prices. "The use of LNG in the power sector has helped the nation keep the power tariff low," said A K Balyan, managing director of Petronet LNG. He added that hence there had been no substantial hike in the power tariff for the last 14 years.

He also said that the Kerala government must take initiatives in laying pipelines to northern Kerala. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka too can benefit from the Kochi terminal if the pipelines are laid.

Balyan said, "Kerala was lucky to get an LNG terminal as other south Indian states were not having any access to this green fuel." He added, the laying of pipelines is crucial to the marketing and distribution of gas.

But India was far behind the developed countries as far as pipelines is concerned. He said that the USA has a pipeline network of about 2.5 million kms while India's pipeline is only 14,000 kms. The country has spent Rs 4,600 crore for the Puthuvype gas terminal. But its capacity utilisation is barely 1 per cent.

Paul Antony, Chairman, Cochin Port Trust (CPT) today said that the laying of pipelines in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu is of paramount importance for the successful utilisation of the LNG terminal, at Puthuvype, near here.

Speaking at the three-day workshop on the use of LNG, organised at FACT Ambalamedu House, he said that the gas pipelines could not be laid in the northern districts of Kerala due to stiff resistance from the people in the area.

Pipeline laying in Ernakulam district has already been completed. This is less than 10 per cent of the total network, connecting three south Indian states. He said, people's mentality has to change to benefit from a massive investment of Rs 4,600 crore spent on the Puthuvype LNG terminal.

He also favoured a uniform pricing policy for natural gas. He suggested that in order to avoid the high disparity in the price of LNG in northern India and Kerala, there could be a pooling of gas pricing so that all the users would get it at a uniform price.

Jaiveer Srivastava, chairman and managing director of FACT, said, though FACT was looking forward to the successful use of LNG at their ammonia plant, the exorbitant price of LNG has forced the company to suspend the use of gas in January 2014.

He said that there would be a favourable trend on the pricing front soon so that gas would be available to FACT at an affordable rate.

He also expressed confidence that people would soon become more aware of the importance of LNG and they would demand gas connectivity to their region. "City gas will be a blessing for domestic consumers which will be safer and cheaper than LPG," he said. He also favoured a uniform pricing of gas through a pooling system.

Balyan also informed that talks with the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) are at an advanced stage for use of LNG in the corporation buses. Hindustan Life Care has already started use of LNG in their Thiruvananthapuram unit.