new delhi may 1 henergy a unit of real estate group hiranandani today said its floating lng import terminal at jaigarh port in maharashtra has been launched and the facility would be operational by end of 2018 henergy gateway pvt ltds 4milliontonnes a year floating storage and regasification unit fsru costing rs 1663 crore was inaugurated by maharasthra chief minister devendra fadnavis the company said in a statement here the jaigarh port is owned and operated by jsw infrastructure the maritime infrastructure development arm of usd 12 billion jsw group the launch of indias first fsru based lng terminal marks a new era of opportunities to drive the development of portbased industries and social infrastructure in india it said import of liquefied natural gas lng using a shipbased terminal will begin in fourth quarter of 2018 the fsru will be berthed at jaigarh the starting point for a henergys proposed 635km coastal pipeline to mangalore to open up new gas markets it will convert lng shipped from multiple suppliers back into gas before transferring it onshore a 60km pipeline connecting the terminal to the port has already been laid the terminal will be capable of reloading lng into other vessels the statement said the lng terminal will cater to the need of clean safe and affordable natural gas henergys lng terminal is also expected to greatly benefit the state of maharashtra by providing clean fuel for transportation and households once operational this will be the fifth lng import terminal on the west coast and second in maharashtra the west coast already has four lng import terminals dahej and hazira in gujarat dabhol in maharashtra and kochi in kerala jaigarh also houses the 5milliontonnes dabhol lng terminal operated by gas utility gail india niranjan hiranandani chairman hiranandani group said the company continues to work on other projects at a steady pace we would like to reiterate our commitment towards creating infrastructure that will help improve the lives of the people darshan hiranandani md ceo henergy said the fsruled approach will usher a sectoral change in terms of reducing the time taken for commissioning such regasification projects this project enables henergy to become a large scale provider of natural gas to india a much desired green fuel the lng terminal will offer storage regasification reloading fuel bunkering and truck loading facilities to cater to the growing energy demand of indian industries when operational the regasified lng will be supplied to customers through a 60km tiein pipeline which shall be connected to national gas grids at dabhol capt bvjk sharma joint managing director ceo jsw infrastructure said in the near future jaigarh port is getting ready for a giant leap to handle 80 mtpa of cargo and is aiming for direct berthing of next generation vessels ie largest dry bulk carrier vale max lng carrier qmax largest container vessels eee series and very large crude carriers this lng terminal will enable development of local portbased industries in maharashtra