GAIL's Kochi petrochem park's pre-feasibility report scheduled for completion in April

21-Mar-05

The pre-feasibility report for GAIL India's proposed Rs 7,600 crore gas-fired petrochemical complex - Kerala Gas Cracker Complex, is scheduled for completion by April. This report is being prepared by Engineers India Ltd. (EIL). The project is to be located at a 400 acre plot owned by public sector company Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Ltd (FACT), with whom negotiations for land acquisition are currently on. This will be GAIL's and Central government's largest investments in Kerala, with the state government likely to pick up only a nominal equity in the venture. The project was originally slated as a naphtha fired project, to be set up in Kasaragode in northern Kerala. However, this venue was shelved in favour of Kochi as Petronet LNG is setting up a 2.5 million tpa LNG import terminal and regassification plant in Kochi, and sourcing of gas from the Petronet terminal would be a better prospect for GAIL.