New Delhi, Oct 30 (IANS): The Petronet LNG board on Monday gave the go-ahead for a Rs 20,685 crore investment plan to set up a petrochemical plant at Dahej in Gujarat, where the company has a gas import terminal.

The company’s CEO, Akshay Kumar Singh, said that the project will be ready in the next four years as it has already got the required statutory approvals.The plant will produce poly-propylene, propylene, propane, hydrogen and ethane.

The project would also have the advantage of utilising ‘Cold Energy’ of PLL’s existing Dahej LNG terminal making this project energy-efficient, the company said in a regulatory filing.

The plant is expected to enhance the self-efficiency of the country in petrochemicals and would facilitate socio-economic development in the region through its huge planned investment which will create significant direct and indirect employment.

Qatar issue

In answer to a question, Singh replied that the negotiations between India and Qatar to extend their long-term contracts for natural gas imports are unlikely to be impacted by the potential diplomatic problem emanating from a local court in Qatar sentencing eight India navy veterans to death over allegedly spying for Israel.

He said that the issue was be handled at the highest level of the country and he hoped it did not have any impact on business relations.

Singh said that Petronet LNG currently imports 8.5 million metric tonnes per year of LNG from Qatar, and is “actively engaged” for the renewal of the long term contracts. The company imports a total of 20 mtpa with the rest coming from other countries including Russia.

Petronet LNG reported an 8.9 per cent growth in its consolidated net profit to Rs 855.74 crore for the July-September quarter compared to Rs 785.73 crore in the same quarter last year.