CALCUTTA: Essar Ports has won a contract to build the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Bengal at an investment of Rs 450 crore. The facility will come up at the Haldia port with a capacity to store one million tonne of the clean fuel, and the terminal is expected to be ready within two years. The project follows a bid floated by the Calcutta Port Trust (CPT) last year inviting companies to set up storage and distribution facilities in Haldia .
Essar Ports, in consortium with Ultra LNG and Essar Shipping, had participated in the tender and emerged as the highest bidder for the project, beating state-owned Petronet and private operator V Energy. The project will have a life span of 30 years, and Essar has to import at least 0.2 million tonne of LNG a year, according to the contract with the CPT.
