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Govt. to use Indian credit line to buy gas
View(s):The Government is planning to import domestic gas from India for the first time in an attempt to end the prevailing shortage.
Trade Minister Shehan Semasinghe called a meeting with the chairpersons and senior officials of Litro and Laugfs Gas this week to discuss the gas shortage. The Sunday Times learns that Litro officials told the minister that they could increase their daily supply to meet the 70 percent of the market demand, provided the company got a continuous gas supply.
The best option available now was the US$ 1 billion Indian credit line, Minister Semasinghe said.
From the US$ 1 billion credit line, US$ 200 million had been set aside for fuel imports. An additional US$ 160 million would be set aside for gas imports, the minister said.
“Litro said there were certain barriers that prevented the private sector from importing gas from India and requested the Government to discuss with India and get those barriers removed. We spoke to the Indian High Commission about this and they have acted swiftly to ensure that gas imports from India can be expedited,” he said.
“The procurement process will begin next week and once that happens, the Government is confident of there will be a continuous supply of gas over the next four to five months,” Mr. Semasinghe said..
Litro officials told the Sunday Times last week that the shortage was expected to last about six weeks.
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