IOC Paradeep refinery work to start soon

The civil construction of the 15 million tonne per annum (mtpa) refinery of the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) at Paradeep is expected to start by Decembder this year.

The activities like detail engineering, procurement of long lead items and material requisition preparation for other items have started and the civil construction of the plant will start in December 2009, Orissa chief secretary Ajit Kumar Tripathy said. The project is progressing well and will be completed by March 2012, he added.

Tripathy reviewed the overall progress of the refinery project in a high level meeting attended by K Raghurameiah, chairman Paradeep Port Trust (PPT), B N Bankapur, director (refineries), Indian Oil Corporations Ltd, industry secreatry Saurava Garg and senior officials of Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation of Orissa (Idco).

After the meeting Bankapur said, “The project is moving very fast and is likely to be completed by March 2012”, he said.

The issues pertaining to the diversion of forest land for the project and allotment of land for construction of water intake well at Jobra in Cuttack and laying of the pipeline figured in the discussion. The state government assured the company to expedite the process of allotment of land and getting the forest diversion proposal cleared.

Sources said, the approval for the forest diversion proposal is in final stages and the government will allot land for the water intake well at Jobra in Cuttack very soon. IOC will source the required water from Mahanadi near Jobra and pump it through a pipeline to Paradeep. Meanwhile, the Paradeep Port Trust (PPT) has provided the required right of way for the proposed refinery.

It may be noted, the state-run company signed a rupee term loan agreement for Rs 14,900 crore with a consortium of 21 lenders led by State Bank of India to finance the Paradeep project in May this year. While the cost of the refinery excluding the petro-chemical complex is estimated at Rs 29,777 crore, IOCL has already committed Rs 4,680 crore for the project. Out of it, 0ver Rs 1600 crore has been spent.

Sources said, to expedite the construction work of the project, a roll on or roll off jetty is being constructed with assistance from the Paradeep Port Trust (PPT), which is likely to be ready in next one month. This jetty will be used for unloading of over-dimension equipments transported through sea route.

Similarly, to facilitate movement of heavy equipments, a 15 metre wide and 7 km long coastal approach road to the refinery site is being built and it is expected to be ready by the end of this year. Besides, for the import of crude through sea route, one new oil jetty is proposed to be constructed at the southern dock complex of Paradeep port, for which basic engineering has been completed.

Sources said, the proposed Petroleum, Chemicals & Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR) at Paradeep is awaiting the final approval of the Centre. “The proposal has been sent to the Centre and is in the final stages of approval. We expect the approval by the end of this year”, said an official.