Chief minister asks officials to speed up work on LNG projects

Chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Wednesday directed officials to speed up the work on the floating storage and regasification unit (FRSU) and the natural gas trunk line connecting important centres in the coastal region proposed by the AP Gas Development Corporation (APGDC).

APGDC, a joint venture between GAIL and the state government's AP Gas Infrastructure Corporation, had entered a project framework agreement with GDF Suez LNG UK Limited in April 2012 for jointly setting up the FSRU at Kakinada port. A public notification for the proposed trunk line between Kakinada-Visakhapatnam-Srikakulam and between Ennore and Nellore has already been issued.

The chief minister's office said Reddy also reviewed the progress of the LNG terminal project proposed at Gangavaram port by public sector Petronet LNG Limited.

These storage and regasification units have been proposed on the Andhra coast after the natural gas production from Reliance Industries (RIL)-controlled KG D6 fields fell steeply early last year forcing a large capacity under the gas power plants to remain idle.

The state government last year assured the industry it would facilitate setting up of the FSRU by the end of December 2013 to enable alternative supplies to the gas power projects. Technical, legal and financial aspects of these projects are still to be resolved.