NEW DELHI, March 10 (Xinhuanet) -- Qatar has indicated to help India to solve the problem of requirement of 2.2 million tons of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) for Ratnagiri Power and Gas Ltd, Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) reported here Friday.

    "Qatar's Rasgas has agreed to supply an additional 2.2 million tons of LNG, which is the requirement for full operation of the 2,150 MW Ratnagiri plant," IANS quoted Petroleum Secretary M.S. Srinivasan as saying.

    It is reported that Australia, Nigeria, Indonesia and Malaysia, besides Qatar, are being looked at for additional LNG supplied by India, which is currently facing a 50 percent shortfall.

    The Petroleum Secretary declined to comment on the price of the gas other than to state that it was affordable.

    "We hope to start receiving the LNG supplies for the Ratnagiri terminal by December this year. It depends on our preparedness to receive that LNG. We are gearing up for that," said Srinivasan.

    The work on the Ratnagiri terminal, which is of five million tons capacity, would be monitored on a fortnightly basis to ensure its preparedness by November to begin trial runs before the first shipment arrives from Qatar in December.

    The gas supplies would help to reduce the cost of power generation by the Ratnagiri plant, which is expected to initially start 740 MW power generation from May, using its holdover stock of naphtha fuel. The remaining two blocks will commence production once the LNG supplies start arriving. Enditem