The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has granted environmental clearance for the ₹3,400-crore expansion of IndianOil LNG Pvt Ltd's Ennore LNG terminal in North Chennai. According to reports from The Hindu BusinessLine, this approval will pave the way for doubling the facility's regasification capacity from 5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) to 10 MTPA.
IndianOil LNG Private Ltd, a joint venture of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, commissioned the country's first LNG import and regasification terminal on the east coast at Ennore in 2019 after construction began in 2015. As reported by The Hindu BusinessLine, the facility was originally designed with a capacity of 5 MMTPA and provisions for future expansion to 10 MMTPA. The proposed expansion will be executed within the existing terminal premises at Kamarajar Port in Ennore without acquiring additional land.
The enhanced facility will increase regasification capacity from 20 million standard cubic metres per day (MMSCMD) to 40 MMSCMD, enabling greater supplies of regasified LNG (RLNG) to industries across Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. According to the company's filing with the Environment ministry, the gas will cater to power plants, fertilizer units, industrial consumers, and city gas distribution networks, including piped natural gas for households and compressed natural gas for the transport sector.
The expansion project is expected to be completed in 54 months and will support the Centre's objective of increasing the share of natural gas in India's energy mix from about 6 per cent to 15 per cent by 2030. As reported by The Hindu BusinessLine, besides meeting growing domestic demand, the project is also expected to create opportunities for LNG bunkering, break-bulk operations and exports to neighbouring countries such as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Myanmar.
