Odisha to help Centre set up strategic oil reserve at Chandikhol

The Odisha government on Wednesday assured the Centre that the state will extend all support for setting up a strategic petroleum reserve facility at Chandikhol in Jajpur district, an official said on Wednesday.

The assurance was made at a meeting held to expedite the process for creating the facility at a cost of Rs 6,500 crore. Officials of the state and the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas attended the meeting.

"The project requires about 400 acres of land. The project will be completed within 60 months. The state has assured that all support will be provided. We have already initiated the process to get environmental clearance," said Sunjay Sudhir, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

Sudhir discussed the issues of land acquisition and necessary approvals with Chief Secretary A.P. Padhi and other officials.

He said that the Chandikhol strategic oil reserve will have a capacity of 4 million metric tonnes entailing an investment of about Rs 6,500 crore. It will create 4,000 jobs.

The Union Cabinet in June approved the establishment of additional 6.5 million metric tonnes (MMT) Strategic Petroleum Reserve facilities at Chandikhol and Padur in Karnataka.

The SPR facilities at Chandikhol and Padur will be underground rockcaverns and will have capacities of 4 MMT and 2.5 MMT respectively.

The Cabinet's approval for an additional 6.5 MMT SPR facilities will provide an additional supply for about 12 days and is expected to augment India's energy security.

--IANS

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