Dighi Port in 'advance' talks with key player for LNG terminal

Dighi Port, in the coastal Konkan belt of Maharashtra, today said it was in "advanced stage" of discussions for having a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at the facility.
The port has all clearances in place for setting a LNG Terminal for which it "is in advanced stage of discussion with certain strategic players," Dighi Port said in a statement.
It, however, did not specify who the strategic players are or offer any deadline by which it hopes to seal the deal.
The Dabhol port, located in the close proximity to the controversial LNG-fired power plant run by Ratnagiri Gas and Power, is the only other port in the state to have permissions for having a LNG terminal, the statement said.

The port also said it had commissioned a jetty of 650 metres, and claimed it is the longest within the facility located on the border of the Ratnagiri and Raigad districts.
It will soon be commissioning one with a length of 1.1 km in 2015 and claimed it will become the longest one in the entire state.

This will increase its cargo handling capacity to 30 million tonnes per annum, according to the statement.
Over Rs 2,500 crore have already been invested in the port and another Rs 1,500 crore will be pumped in to upgrade road and rail infrastructure in its vicinity in the near future, the statement said, adding the recent launch of the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) is a positive move.

At present, the average cargo discharge rate of Dighi Port has been in excess of 1000 metric tonnes per hour and the port has handled over four million tonnes of cargo till now.