Kochi: Kerala has incurred a loss of Rs 75,000-80,000 crore in the past 10 years due to the delay in setting up the liquefied natural gas terminal at Puthuvype near Kochi, according to M.P. Sukumaran Nair of the Centre for Green Technologies and Management.
Making a presentation on the importance of LNG as an energy source for the growth of Kerala, Nair, an advisor to former chief minister E.K. Nayanar, said, “on a rough estimate the state would have lost around Rs 75-80 thousand crore over the last ten-year period on account of implementation delay of the project by way of higher costs paid for alternative liquid fuels, increase in manufacturing costs and loss to the state exchequer.”
Nair and others attending the workshop called on the central government to work out uniform pricing for LNG across the country by taking into account the domestic and international price. At present, 70 per cent of the LNG required for the country is met from domestic sources while the rest is imported, Nair said. Pooling of prices like any other petroleum products will help in eliminating the existing anomalies, he said.
P.K. Ramesh, deputy general manager of GAIL, said that the major problem facing the LNG sector in the state is the lack of pipeline connectivity. Without the connectivity, the state is unlikely to make any headway in harnessing the potential of LNG rated as the main energy fuel in the 21stcentury.
Union Minister of State for Food and Consumer Affairs K.V. Thomas, former state electricity minister S. Sharma, trade union leaders K. Chandran Pillai and K.N. Ravindranath also addressed the workshop organised by the Kerala Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Chandran Pillai and other leaders called upon the central and state governments to cut the duties levied on LNG.
