A cross-country, over 1,200-km-long product pipeline project of Indian Oil Corporation to augment fuel supplies in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha will formally get off the ground with Prime Minister Narendra Modi laying the foundation stone in Odisha on Monday.
Conceived a few years ago, the Paradip-Hyderabad pipeline will be one of the longest in the region and have a capacity to handle 4.5 million tonne products – petrol, diesel, kerosene and aviation turbine fuel.
Accompanying the 1,212-km underground pipeline, to boost the performance and facilitate the product delivery, will be a host of facilities such as pumping as well as booster stations and depots/terminals.
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The pipeline itself will have a telescopic pattern with the size reducing from 18 inch OD (outer diameter) at the beginning to 16 inches and eventually 14 inches. This is to optimize the flow as well as the cost, said K. Narender Babu, Deputy General Manager of IOC associated with the project.
On its journey from Paradip, the pipeline would feed the new depots to be set up in Berhampur, Odisha; Achchutapuram near Vishakapatnam (AP) and in Vishakapatnam as well as in Malkapur, near Hyderabad. It would traverse through 16 districts in the three States, though the number of tap off points would be much less, including to some of the existing IOC depots such as those in Rajahmundry and Vijayawada.
The ₹3,808-crore project would augment fuel supplies in the three States that are witnessing major infrastructure development, including that of a capital city, and rapid industrialisation. Besides supplies, the pipeline would deliver benefits accruing from the safe, cost effective, energy efficient and environment friendly movement of products.
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IOC Executive Director P.C. Choubey and in-charge of South Eastern Region Pipelines Division that is implementing the project said several systems for monitoring such as SCADA, detect leaks, for cathodic protection and isolation valves form part of the pipeline.
Horizontal directional drilling method is to be deployed at the hundreds of road and rail crossings to ensure that the structure above is not disturbed as also in major rivers such as the Godavari.
With most of the land acquisition, permissions, statutory clearance in place and with those remaining expected in a month, the officials associated with the project expect the pipeline to be commissioned by August 2020.
Executive Director (AP and TS) Rahul Bhardwaj said IOC that now sources products from HPCL refinery in Vishakhapatnam for the two States would be able to grow its marketing network with the pipeline in the region.
On the Malkapur terminal, he said over 60 acres had been acquired for the modern facility to be established that would serve as an alternative to the existing terminal in Cherlapalli.