IOCL commits Rs 6,000 cr for Paradeep refinery

The 15 million tonne per annum proposed refinery of the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) at Paradeep is on track and the project is likely to be completed by 2012.

The company has invested Rs 2500 crore and committed about Rs 6000 crore for the project till date. While some equipments for the project have arrived, the piling work is likely to start within a month.

This was communicated by the company to the state government during a review of the project by chief secretary Tarunkanti Mishra today.

“The project is on track and the IOCL officials have assured to complete it by March 2012”, said the state industry secretary, Saurabh Garg.

The cost of the refinery, excluding the petro-chemical complex proposed to come up around it, is estimated at Rs 29,777 crore. 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 (SBI) to finance the Paradeep project in May this year.

Sources said, the company has sought the expansion of a 10 km long road linking the project site to Paradeep port. It was decided to finish the work within a time line. The state has already recommended to the Centre for grant of forest clearance for a patch of land within the project site and the approval is awaited. Meanwhile, the company will be given the physical possession of the land for construction of intake water well at Jobra in Cuttack in next couple of days. The state government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with IOCL for setting up of a refinery at Paradeep in 2004. IOCL plans to source the required water from Mahanadi near Jobra and pump it through a pipeline to Paradeep. The Paradeep Port Trust (PPT) has already provided the required right of way for the refinery, sources added.