Ioc, Ibp, German Firm Form Venture

IOC and IBP will each hold 25 per cent of the equity, while 50 per cent will be held by Oiltanking. The new company has a paid-up capital of Rs 80 crore.

IOC chairman R K Narang will be the chairman of the joint venture, while Raphael van Streenbergen will be the managing director, according to an IOC statement.

Oiltanking is the worlds fourth largest petroleum storage and handling company, operating six million kilo-litres of tankage through 19 bulk oil terminals in Europe, Singapore, North and South America. It will bring in state-of-the-art technology for management of terminal operations, which is expected to optimise the utilisation of the facilities. Indias consumption of petroleum products is expected to cross 155 million tonnes by 2006-07 from 72.5 million tonnes now. This would necessitate augmentation of storage and evacuation infrastructure.