In a first in eastern India, IOC delivers LPG through pipeline

In a first in eastern India, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOC) has delivered LPG through its pipeline in Odisha's Balasore district from the company's refinery at Paradip.

"The Paradip-Balasore section of the Paradip-Haldia-Durgapur LPG pipeline (PHDPL) is streamlined for delivery of LPG to IOCL bottling plant at Balasore. This is the first off take of LPG from Paradip refinery through the pipeline," said P C Choubey, executive director (pipelines division), IOCL.

The PHDPL is IOC's second LPG pipeline after the Panipat-Jalandhar pipeline and the first in eastern India. PHDPL traverses the coastal belt of Odisha from Paradip to  Balasore and further to Haldia.

The oil marketing major is set to complete the proposed pipeline by March 2018 at a cost of Rs 913 crore. With a total estimated length of about 678 km, PHDPL's originating pump station is located at Paradip, with Balasore serving as the scrapper and delivery station. With a capacity of 0.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), the pipeline will transport LPG from Paradip, the Haldia refinery and Indian Oil Petronas Pvt Ltd, Haldia, to the LPG bottling plants at Balasore, Budge Budge, Kalyani, and Durgapur.

Sources said that earlier, LPG delivery at Balasore was done through bullets. The 157-km section from the Paradip refinery to Balasore was built at a cost of about Rs 250 crore.

IOC's 15-mtpa capacity refinery at Paradip is spread over an area of 3,345 acres with an estimated cost of Rs 34,555 crore. The refinery can process 100 per cent high-sulphur and heavy crude oil to produce various petroleum products, including petrol and diesel of BS-IV quality, kerosene, aviation turbine fuel, propylene, sulphur, and petroleum coke. It is also designed to produce Euro-V premium quality motor spirit and other green auto fuel variants for export.

The demand for LPG connections in India is set to rise from 18 million tonnes to 25 million tonnes by 2022-23 and is seen growing at a rate of 11-12 per cent annually. About 50 per cent of India's LPG requirement is being imported to meet the demand.

"To cater to this, IOC has drawn up plans on infrastructure development and improving logistics for movement of LPG. In view of this, the commissioning of the Paradip-Balasore section of the PHD LPG pipeline is a major milestone and would give a fillip to the overall LPG demand in eastern India and also to the energy sector, as a whole, in the country," sources said.