GAIL India is investing Rs. 6 bn, equivalent to $63.1 mn, to build a heating unit at its Ratnagiri liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal. The installation is intended to provide the heat needed to gasify the super-chilled fuel before it is supplied from the facility. The investment will address a limitation that has prevented the terminal from operating at full capacity.

The facility is scheduled for completion by June 2027. Once operational, it will enable the Ratnagiri LNG terminal to process 5 mn t per annum, its stated full capacity. R. K. Singhal, GAIL India’s business development director, outlined the project at an industry event on Wednesday.

The terminal is currently operating at about 50 per cent capacity because the heating unit is not ready. The shortfall has limited the facility’s ability to gasify LNG at its designed scale, leaving the terminal dependent on an alternative source of heat for the process.

Previously, the Ratnagiri facility obtained heat from waste generated by a power plant operated by another entity. That power plant is no longer functional, removing the source of heat that had been used to gasify the LNG. The new unit is therefore being developed as the main heating system for the terminal.

GAIL India is also constructing a small captive power plant at the site. The plant will generate heat for the LNG facility and support the terminal’s gasification requirements. Together, the heating unit and captive power plant are expected to restore the infrastructure needed for the terminal to move from its current 50 per cent operating level towards its full annual capacity after the scheduled completion in June 2027.