Indian Oil, GAIL to pick up 49% stake in Adani’s Dhamra LNG terminal

TIL Desk Business/New Delhi-State-owned refiner Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and gas utility GAIL India Ltd will tomorrow sign a pact to take 49 per cent stake in Adani Group’s Rs 5,000-crore Dhamra LNG project in Odisha. While IOC will take 38 per cent, GAIL will pick 11 per cent stake in the proposed 5-million tonne a year liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal at Dhamra by 2018-19.

Adani Petroleum Terminal Pvt will hold 49 per cent in Dhamra LNG Terminal Pvt Ltd – the firm setting up the LNG plant. The remaining 2 per cent interest will be held by financial institutions. Sources said a formal agreement signing ceremony is planned for tomorrow where Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who also hails from Odisha, will also be present.

IOC had last year signed up to use 60 per cent of the terminal capacity for importing gas for its refineries at Haldia in West Bengal and Paradip in Odisha. GAIL too had signed up for 1.5 million tonnes of the terminal’s regassification capacity. GAIL and IOC were initially bargaining for 50 per cent stake in the project, but Adani wanted to retain controlling interest.