Interested parties stand to become part owners of an LNG terminal, a regassification plant and a port; all along India's western coast in the state of Gujarat, with Shell indicating it has had some nibbles.

According to Marc den Hartog, the director of Shell's Indian subsidiary Shell India, "Several companies including state-run GAIL had expressed interest in picking up equity in the venture."

"We will indeed continue to consider other strong, value-adding partners for the project. We expect to be discussing this with both Indian and international companies," added Hartog.

Hazira will have an initial operational capacity of around 2.5 million tonnes per annum, which can be later expanded to around 10 million tonnes per year. The commissioning of the LNG terminal is expected in the second half of this year - with its first LNG cargo expected at year's end - and more than 70% of the work on the port and receiving terminal have been completed.