The State government would immediately initiate steps to speed up work on the Kochi-Koottanad-Mangalore-Bangalore LNG pipeline and also take up the problems confronting Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Limited (FACT), said Chief Secretary to the State government Jiji Thomson here on Tuesday.
The assurance came at the end of Mr. Thomson’s visit to the LNG terminal and FACT on Tuesday, said a press release from the Public Relations Department.
It said that the Chief Secretary met with officials from both the establishments to discuss the problems confronting them.
Though the gas supply line from Puthuvype terminal to FACT was ready, work was pending in northern districts. The laying of pipeline under water to Kayamkulam too has been held up.
Only six per cent of the capacity of the Rs. 4,600-crore terminal was being utilised at present, said the press release.
It said that if work on the pipeline to the NTPC power generation facility at Kayamakulam and to Mangalore was completed, it would pave the way for more industrial investments in the State.
Officials from Petronet who met Mr. Thomson included T.N. Neelakandan, vice-president, and P. Seshagiri Rao, chief manager. Chairman and managing director Jaiveer Srivastava and senior officials of FACT received the Chief Secretary at the fertiliser company.
FACT is facing a serious financial crisis. Shortage of working capital and delay in approval of a revival and rehabilitation package for the company are major reasons for the current problem.
The State government had waived VAT on natural gas supplied to FACT and had also removed the bottlenecks in the road movement of ammonia to help the company, the press release added.
