Mumbai: Hiranandani Group’s energy arm H-Energy Gateway Private Ltd. launched India’s first floating storage and re-gasification unit (FSRU)-based LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminal at Jaigarh port in the State.The FSRU, inaugurated by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis earlier this week will be operational by end of 2018 and will supply re-gasified LNG to customers through a 60 km pipeline which will be connected to national gas grid at Dhabol.Highlighting India’s growing need for LNG, Mr. Fadnavis said, “I am confident that the availability of LNG will spur industrialisation. It will bring in more industries, and the fact that the JSW port is operational for all 12 months (as opposed to the Dhabol port that is open only for 6 months) will help in cutting losses.”The company has received approval to lay and operate a 635 km natural gas pipeline from Jaigarh to Mangalore and will be connected to the demand centres of Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Goa, Karwar, Udupi, and Mangalore. The pipeline is expected to be commissioned by 2019.The 4 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) LNG terminal will offer storage, re-gasification, re-loading, fuel bunkering and truck loading facilities to cater to the growing energy demand of Indian industries. The company also has plans to set up a second FSRU at the Digha region, Bay of Bengal, scheduled for 2020, said a company statement. Mr. Darshan Hiranandani, CEO, H-Energy said, “The terminal will help strengthen the transport infrastructure within Ratnagiri. So far the local gas distributor Unison hasn’t built a single CNG pump as the gas used to be so expensive.” H-Energy said it would also be supplementing Unison’s efforts to provide gas connections to over 1.5 lakh homes in Ratnagiri district in the next three years.The Jaigarh Port is owned and operated by JSW Infrastructure (the maritime infrastructure development arm of the $ 12 billion JSW Group).“In the near future, Jaigarh Port is getting ready for a giant leap to handle 80 mtpa of cargo and is aiming for direct berthing of next generation vessels i.e. large dry bulk carrier (Vale Max), LNG carrier (Q-Max), large container vessels (EEE Series) and very large crude carriers. This LNG terminal will enable development of local port-based industries in Maharashtra region,” said Capt. BVJK Sharma, Joint Managing Director & CEO, JSW Infrastructure. read more