Gas Authority Accepts Adb Terms For $150 M Loan

Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) has agreed to the conditions put by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for a $150 million loan for its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) pipeline project.

The conditions are:

* Appointment of Hapoz Study International as consultants for the project;

* Firm commitment from customers for utilisation of at least 90 per cent of the pipeline's capacity;

* Hydraulic calculation of the pipeline capacity.

The finance ministry has written to the petroleum ministry that since GAIL has agreed to these conditions and has even informed it that it is in the process of firming up contracts for the 90 per cent utilisation of the pipeline capacity, discussions with ADB for the loan should be expedited.

The government has approved the 1,230-km pipeline for transporting LPG from Kandla in Gujarat to Loni near Delhi.

It will transport 2.5 million tonnes per annum of the gas. The project cost is estimated at around Rs 1,230 crore. It is likely to be commissioned by April 2001.

GAIL is one of the major LPG producers in the country with an annual production of about 600,000 tonne which is about 20 per cent of the total production in the country.

The company is set to increase capacity during the current Plan period with addition of four more plants having a combined capacity of 480,000 tonnes per annum (TPA). Of these, the plant at Usar, designed to produce 1,39,500 TPA of gas, has been commissioned recently.

The LPG project at Lakwa, designed to produce 85,000 TPA, is scheduled for commissioning this month.

The plant at Auraiya, which is integrated with GAIL's petrochemical plant, is expected to be commissioned by June 2000. The project, on completion, would produce 258,000 TPA of liquefied petroleum gas. Government approval for the Gandhar plant is still awaited.