On 29th September 2022, during his 2-day visit to Gujarat, Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of World’s 1st Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Terminal and of the brownfield port, along with various other projects worth over Rs. 5200 crores in Bhavnagar, Gujarat.
- Attendees – Chief Minister of Gujarat, Bhupendra Patel, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Shri Mansukh Mandaviya, Member of Parliament, Shri C R Patil, Dr Bhartiben Shiyal and Shri Naranbhai Kacchadiya were also present on the occasion.
Background:
i.In January 2019, a consortium of London-based Foresight Group, Mumbai-based Padmanabh Mafatlal Group and Rotterdam-based Boskalis signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) for the development of the CNG terminal.
ii.In December 2019, a project proposal for the development of the north side of Bhavnagar port and allied infrastructure including the CNG terminal, was submitted.
iii.In September 2020, GMB issued a Letter of Intent (LoI) in the name of Bhavnagar Port Infrastructure Private Limited, a special purpose vehicle (SPV), which was formed by the consortium for the construction of the terminal.
About the CNG terminal project:
i.This is a 3-year project that will be developed at the cost of Rs 4,000 crore with the state-of-art infrastructure and with the world’s 4th largest lock gate system.
- The project aims to develop the infrastructure of the existing north side of the port at Bhavnagar under the BOOT (Build, Own, Operate and Transfer) policy of Gujarat and the GMB will continue to operate the south side of the port.
ii.The construction of the terminal will commence in the first quarter of 2023 and is expected to be made operational by 2026.
iii.The capacity of the proposed terminal would be 4.65 million tonnes per annum (MTPA), of which the capacity of the CNG terminal will be 0.3 MTPA.
Facilities:
The CNG terminal will be a part of the existing Bhavnagar port, with additional facilities including an ultra-modern container terminal, multipurpose terminal (LPG and Chemical), a Ro-Ro (roll-on/roll-off) terminal for cargo ships that can load and unload wheeled objects such as trolleys and cars, and a liquid cargo terminal.
PM Inaugurates Inaugurates Regional Science Centre in Bhavnagar:
On 29th September 2022 PM also inaugurated the Regional Science Centre, spread over 20 acres, in Bhavnagar, Gujarat. The Centre has been built at a cost of around Rs.100 crores.
About the Centre:
i.The centre will provide a creative platform for children through outdoor installations like animatronic dinosaurs, science theme-based toy trains, nature exploration tours, motion simulators, portable solar observatories and such others.
ii.This also has several other theme-based galleries including Marine Aquatic gallery, Automobile gallery, Nobel Prize gallery for Physiology and Medicine, Electro-Mechanics gallery, and Biology Science gallery.
Other highlights:
During the programme, the PM also inaugurated various other projects including package 7 of Sauni Yojna link 2, 25 MW Palitana Solar PV Project, Aawadkrupa Plastomech Private Limited project (APPL Container); and also laid the foundation stone of projects including package 9 of Sauni Yohna link 2, Chorvadla Zone water supply project among others.
Key points:
i.The Gujarat government has played a key role in developing its coastal industries along with energy networks for these industries as Gujarat has the longest coastline in India.
ii.Also, Fishing harbours were constructed and fish processing was promoted for the benefit of the fishermen’s community. Mangrove forests were also developed in the area.
Note – In India, Gujarat was the 1st state to get an Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) terminal and at present there are a total of 3 LNG terminals in Gujarat.
