The construction work for the proposed 15 million tonne per annum (mtpa) refinery of the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOCL) at Paradeep is expected to start in the first quarter of 2010-11.
Though some activities like detail engineering, procurement of long lead items and material requisition preparation for other items have started, the civil construction of the plant will start next year, official sources said here.
In a recent communication to the Orissa chief secretary Ajit Kumar Tripathy, the company stated that the plant construction will follow the completion of the part design or part engineering so that civil contractors can be awarded the jobs for piling and equipment foundation, sources said.
Last month, the state-run company signed a rupee term loan agreement for Rs 14,900 crore with a consortium of 21 lenders led by State Bank of India to finance the Paradeep project.
While the cost of the refinery excluding the petro-chemical complex is estimated at Rs 29,777 crore, IOCL has already committed Rs 4680 crore for the project. Out of it, Rs 1600 crore has been spent so far.
Sources said, to expedite the construction work of the project, a roll on or roll off jetty is being constructed with assistance from the Paradeep Port Trust (PPT). The jetty is likely to be ready by August 2009 and it will be used for unloading of over-dimension equipments transported through sea route.
For the movement of heavy equipment, a 15 metre wide and 7 km long coastal approach road to the refinery site is being built and it is expected to be ready by the end of this year.
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Besides, for the import of crude through sea route, one new oil jetty is proposed to be constructed at the southern dock complex of Paradeep port, for which basic engineering has been completed and the approval of the Union ministry of surface transport is awaited.
In a letter written to Tripathy, B N Bankapur, director (refineries) and director in charge (Assam Oil Division) has stated that the Board of Directors (BoD) of IOCL accorded in principle approval for setting up of a grassroot refinery along with the petro-chemical complex at Paradeep at an estimated cost of 25,646 crore in March 2006.
Based on the board approval, M/S Foster Wheeler Energy Ltd (FWEL) of UK was appointed as the consultant for the Front End Engineering Design (FEED) and cost estimation of the project.
On completion of the FEED, the project cost was estimated at more than Rs 45,000 crore. The project evaluation committee of IOCL, however, felt that funding will be a huge burden on the company and suggested for reconfiguration of the project. Accordingly, the project was re-configured by deferring the establishment of petro-chemical complex. This brought down the cost of the project (only refinery unit) to Rs 29,777 crore. Following this, IOCL Board gave its final nod to the project in February 2009.