Sri Lanka is seeking supply of gas in liquid form to meet requirements for generating electricity and other industries. It was in discussions with Petronet and other suppliers for years and it is only now that it has finally agreed to buy the fuel from the Indian firm.

Petronet CEO Akshay Kumar Singh said the company will ship 850 tonnes of gas daily to the island nation in containers of 17 tonnes each. The supplies would be for five years during which the company will build a floating LNG receipt facility at Colombo port.

"The supplies will start in 18 months or so," he said.The Indian firm imports LNG from Qatar, Australia and other countries at two terminals - Dahej terminal in Gujarat and a facility at Kochi in Kerala.