By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, July 8, 2017 : Shifting of the LNG terminal project from Paradip to Dhamra has kicked off a major controversy with senior Congress leader Srikant Jena demanding CBI inquiry into the whole issue.

Jena on Saturday alleged a big scam behind shifting of the LNG terminal and giving major stake to a private company.

“The LNG Terminal project site was shifted to Dhamra, which was originally slated to be set up at Paradip port, after the BJP-led NDA came to power at the Centre. There is a big scam behind the move,” Jena said demoing a CBI inquiry into the circumstances in which the LNG project was shifted and virtually handed over to a corporate giant.

Demanding cancellation of the agreement for establishing the 5 million ton per annum capacity LNG terminal at Dhamra, Jena has sought for a thorough audit of the matter by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).

An MoU had been signed in August 2013 for setting up the LNG terminal at Paradip for which Paradip Port Trust (PPT) was to invest Rs 650 crore and GAIL Rs 2,480 crore. The plan was to commission a 4.4 MMTPA capacity terminal in the first phase by 2017.

However, after NDA came to power at the Centre, GAIL backed out and the project was shifted to Dhamra.

Indian Oil Corporation Limited and GAIL (India) Limited  on September 21 last year signed an MoU with Dhamra LNG Terminal Private Limited (DLTPL) for taking equity in the 5 MMTPA capacity LNG Receiving, Storage and Regasification Terminal, being put up at Dhamra Port, Odisha.

As per the MoU, DLTPL shall be an equal Joint Venture of Indian Oil and GAIL on one hand and Adani Group on the other. Indian Oil and GAIL would acquire 39% and 11% equity respectively in DLTPL, with the balance 50% being held by Adani group.

Going forward, Indian Oil and Adani group will each divest 1% of their respective stake to a credible financial institution which will then have 2% stake in the terminal. Apart from equity, Indian Oil and GAIL intend to book regasification capacity of 3.0 and 1.5 MMTPA respectively in the terminal.

As per the agreement, 49 per cent stake was given to Adani, 38 per cent to IOCL and 11 per cent to GAIL, while financial institutions would hold the rest two per cent. Jena has questioned the rationale behind such an agreement and sought to know as to why no auction was done.