Indian Oil Corporation on Thursday took to Twitter to clarify its involvement in an Adani Ports’ gas import terminal. In a series of tweets, the state-run refiner said there was no binding agreement or take-or-pay liability in place with Adani Ports.
The clarification comes after TMC MP Mahua Moitra’s tweet accusing IOC of not following a proper tender process for the agreement. Moitra’s tweet linked to a February 13 report from the Economic Times newspaper, which said the refiner would shift “a large chunk” of LPG imports to the Adani facility at Gangavaram port from the adjacent Visakhapatnam port.
The newspaper report also stated Indian Oil would fully underwrite Adani’s LPG terminal. The facility will have the capacity to receive 500,000 tonnes a year.
“@MahuaMoitra IOC imports #LPG from various ports including BD Kandla, Mundra, Pipavav, Dahej, Mumbai & Mangalore on West Coast & Haldia, Vizag & Ennore on the East,” tweeted IOC.
Two more import terminals are coming up at Kochi on West Coast & Paradip on the East. These will be used in due course of time.
According to IOC, the Adani Ports agreement is advantageous for it as the company has offered a price of Rs 1,050 for LPG import terminaling charges, which includes the added benefit of being able to unload refrigerated LPG directly from bigger vessels.
In contrast, SALPG (South Asia LPG, a joint venture of TOTAL & HPCL) charges Rs 1,050 and EIPL (East India Petroleum Limited- a private company) charges Rs 900 but have a lower capacity for unloading vessels and lack a captive connectivity system for continuous use. Currently, the only two terminals near Vizag are SALPG (a joint venture between TOTAL and HPCL) and EIPL (a private company).
Adani Group companies have lately been under the scanner after a series of allegations made by US short seller Hindenburg Research against the conglomerate, wiping some $120 billion off the value of the group’s companies.