India’s largest LNG importer, Petronet LNG Limited (PLL) will soon form a joint venture with Japanese and Sri Lankan companies to set up a Liquefied Natural Gas terminal in Sri Lanka. In an official statement PLL said, “Sri Lanka has decided to go ahead with the setting up of an LNG terminal near Colombo with Indian and Japanese companies. The two countries in their efforts to strengthen relations have been in discussions on this issue since last more than one year.”

The Sri Lankan government issued a Letter of Intent (LoI) to the Government of India during the visit of External Affairs Minister to Colombo on September 1, the statement added.

The LNG terminal will be set up on the western coast of Sri Lanka close to Colombo, where most of the power projects (operating mainly on costly liquid fuel) are located. The statement said, the LNG Terminal in Sri Lanka to provide regassified natural gas to various power plants, domestic and transport sectors in Sri Lanka. The capacity of the LNG Terminal will be decided upon the gas demand in Sri Lanka and is expected to be developed in 2 years after completion of initial formalities.