To meet the growing demand for petroleum products, including petrol, diesel and LPG in the State, Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) is set to invest ₹1,689 crore to develop infrastructure and expand its distribution network, according to IOCL executive director and head of AP and Telangana R.S.S. Rao.
At a press conference here on Wednesday, Mr. Rao, along with Chief General Manager Phani Rammohan, and General Manager R. Chidambaram revealed the projects taken up and lined up for commissioning in the next couple of years.
He said out of the total investment, ₹1,522 crore would be invested in petro products infrastructure and ₹167 crore in Liquid Petroleum Gas. Some of the projects were already taken up.
Mr. Rao said the existing Vijayawada Terminal at Kondapalli, which would operate as Tap Off Point Terminal for the Paradip-Hyderabad Pipeline (PHPL), would be revamped and the storage capacity increased at a cost of ₹ 316 crore by September 2021. The PHPL, spanning over 1,200 km from Paradip in Odisha to Hyderabad covers 723 km in AP and was nearing completion, he said.
“Another Tap Off Point Terminal for PHPL, a grassroots terminal, is coming up in over 60 acres of area at Atchutapuram, Visakhapatnam, at a cost of ₹ 466 crore and with a storage capacity of over 74,000 km. The terminal will cater to the needs of Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts and is expected to be completed by July 2021,” he said. While the supply of all-white oils would be gradually shifted to the new terminal from the existing Malkapuram terminal, black oil supply would continue as it is going to be revamped with ₹355 crore by February 2023, he added.
Mr. Rao said that demand for LPG has been growing and IndianOil has LPG market share of 35.5% in cooking gas with a sale of 2,59,000 metric tonnes (TMTs) during 2020-21 in the State as it serves 49 lakh customers.
Bottling plant
In addition to the three Indane LPG bottling plants at Kadapa, Visakhapatnam and Kondapalli which can churn out one lakh cylinders a day, a new bottling plant at a cost of ₹167 crore would be set up in Chittoor.
The new plant would increase the bottling capacity to near 1.4 lakh cylinders per day in the state, Mr. Rao said.
Also, a new rail fed depot costing ₹ 385 crore is coming up in Nakkanadoddi, Guntakal, with a tankage capacity of 55,000 kilolitres and it is likely to be commissioned by March 2021.
As part of its plan to set up 1,291 new retail outlets in the State during the last year, IOCL has called applications and received only 1,139 responses after which letter of intent for opening 346 outlets was issued recently. A total of 1,413 retail outlets are operational in the State currently.
The corporation is also focused on piped gas distribution to households and industries and city gas distribution. Compressed Biogas dispensing facility, first of its kind venture, in Produtur in Kadapa would be inaugurated during December, said the executive director.
