Date:15/10/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/10/15/stories/2007101566450300.htm

Tamil Nadu

“Provide pipelines to supply natural gas”

Staff Reporter

Tutcorin: The Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Tuticorin, (ICCIT) has urged the Centre to provide dedicated pipelines to supply natural gas to industries situated in and around Tuticorin at the earliest.

D.R. Kodeeswaran, secretary, ICCI, said that the Gas Authority of India should take steps to fully explore the copious natural gas resources available in Ramanathapuram and nearby localities and then provide the gas through pipelines to industrial units here.

Likewise, establishment of the proposed pipeline from Krishna-Godavari basin to Tuticorin should be expedited and the industrial town (i.e. Tuticorin) should be linked to the proposed Liquified Natural Gas terminal coming up at Kochi in Kerala.

He said that it was extremely essential to convert Tuticorin into a natural gas node without any further delay, since the estimated requirement of natural gas for the industries in southern districts of the state presently stands at about 6 million metric standard cubic metre per day (mmscmd).

Of this, demand to industries in Tuticorin alone was computed at 3 mmscmd.

According to him, adequate supply of natural gas would increase the profitability of industrial outfits in the region, as it remains one of the most economical energy choices in the globe.

Port development

The chamber also urged the Centre to ensure the completion of the project envisaged to develop the outer and inner harbor here at an estimated cost of Rs.6,380 crore, to help Tuticorin portto attain the status of ‘Hub port of South East Asia’.

Mr. Kodeeswaran opined that dry docking facilities should be set up here immediately.

“Due to lack of hi-tech dry docks, most of the ships calling Indian ports were either going to Colombo or Singapore for dry docking though Tuticorin port was geographically situated very close to the international sea route,” he said.