Shell, Reliance Eye India LNG

摘要

Royal Dutch Shell and Indian utility Reliance Power are in talks to build the first LNG import terminal on India’s east coast, local newspaper The Economic Times reported this week, citing government and industry sources. Both firms are mulling an “equal joint venture” for a facility at Kakinada city in Andhra Pradesh state, the sources said, adding it would cost around 30 billion rupees ($565 million). The LNG would fuel factories and power plants on the east coast — including Reliance Power’s 2,400 MW Samolkot power project — which are increasingly seeking gas imports to replace dwindling domestic output. High transportation costs and taxes also make it hard for these power plants to receive LNG, as Indian terminals are all on the west coast.