India Mulls Gas Grid Connectivity with Bangladesh

India’s Prime Minister’s Office has sought the views of the External Affairs and Petroleum Ministries on a private sector player’s proposal for putting in place strategic gas grid connectivity between India and Bangladesh and also building a floating LNG terminal near Chittagong, The Hindu newspaper reported.

In a note to both Ministries, the PMO has forwarded the proposal by H-Energy East Coast Pvt Ltd (HEECPL) to transport gas from its proposed LNG import terminal facility in Digha in West Bengal to Jessore in Bangladesh, the newspaper said.

The Hindu reported that Bangladesh, which is experiencing a shortfall of 500 million cubic feet of gas a day, proposes to set up a floating import terminal close to Chittagong to handle around 5 million tonne per annum of LNG.

The floating LNG terminal, being promoted by HEECPL would have a capacity of four-million tonne per annum and is expected to be operational by 2015, The Hindu said.

It is intended this facility will supply gas to West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar and some northern States through the proposed Haldia-Jagdihspur pipeline of GAIL India and also connect Kolkata, the newspaper added.

It is argued that this would enable PetroBangla to import LNG from a source of its choice at a competitive price and have it re-gasified in the facility planned by HEECPL in the Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh could take delivery of the gas at Petrapol border, a cost-effective option.