Slew Of Projects In Pipeline For Bengal Oil Sector
Fresh investments worth Rs 236 crore are expected to pour into the oil sector in West Bengal.
Among the projects in the offing is a Rs 80 crore liquefied petroleum gas plant to be set up by Hindustan Storage & Distribution Company at Budge Budge.
The project, christened Petrofarms Ltd, is the largest private sector liquefied petroleum gas plant proposal submitted to the state government in recent times. The debt-equity ratio of the project has been pegged at 1:1.
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The promoters have offered 11 per cent equity in the project to West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation, thereby including it in the assisted sector category.
The corporation is reported to have told the promoters that financial assistance would be considered once the infrastructure bottlenecks had been cleared.
The location of the site is a problem as there is a paucity of good approach roads.
Other large oil project proposals in the pipeline are:
l A bulk storage and handling terminal for petroleum products to be set up at a cost of Rs 150 crore by PSU Balmer Lawrie;
l A Rs 50 crore LPG storage terminal promoted by the IBP-Caltex joint venture;
l A Rs 70 crore project of Bharat Petroleum for setting up three LPG bottling plants in Uluberia, Raigunj and Durgapur; and,
l An LPG bottling plant of Indian Oil Corporation, which is under construction at Budge Budge. The project cost is estimated at Rs 36 crore.
Tata Economic Consultancy Service has prepared the techno-economic feasibility report for Petrofarms Ltd. Risk analysis for port and site is being conducted by DET Norske Veritas of the UK.
The project has already received clearances from the Calcutta Port Trust and the industry ministry.
According to the techno-economic feasibility report, there are 82 bottling plants of public sector oil companies operating in the country with an installed capacity of 2.822 million tonnes. The bottling capacity is likely to go up to 3.6 million tonnes by the year 2000.
Subsidy on liquefied petroleum gas is being withdrawn in a phased manner. Demand for LPG in the country is expected to go up to 7.485 million tonnes by the year 2001-02.
This will lead to a deficit of 2.671 million tonnes that will have to be bridged through imports.