IOC to invest in new oil storage facilities in northeast India

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) will invest nearly INR840 crore (USD111.1 million) in expanding its petroleum, oil and lubricant (POL) storage facilities, including setting up a greenfield facility, in northeast India. Currently, IndianOil has 13 depots in the Northeast India.  

The current total storage capacity of India’s largest state-owned oil and gas company in northeast India is 3,160 thousand metric tonnes per annum (TMTPA), Press Trust of India reported. Capacity utilisation rate is currently 76.8%.

“After all our expansion projects are completed, our installed storage capacity will reach 5,530 TMTPA against a projected demand of 4,950 TMTPA by 2030,” said IOC Executive Director (IOC-AOD) G. Ramesh.

“We have two major projects coming up in the POL segment. The first one is the setting up of a greenfield depot at Sekerkote in Tripura. This will entail an investment of around INR540 crore (USD71.4 million) and will be completed by 2024,” said Ramesh. Land clearing is going on and construction will commence thereafter, he added.

Tripura, the third-smallest state in the country, is bordered by Bangladesh to the north, south, and west, and the Indian states of Assam and Mizoram to the east.Tripura lies in a geographically isolated location in India, as only one major highway connects it with the rest of the country.

“Another major project that we will undertake is the expansion of the Betkuchi POL depot in Guwahati. We have earmarked INR298 crore (USD39.4 million) to increase the storage intake to 54,000 KL from 25,000 KL now, install new fire water tanks and other facilities,” Ramesh said. Guwahati is located in the state of Assam, which is south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. The company has already acquired an additional 10.67 acres of land to expand the Betkuchi plant.

The company has also completed the construction of a storage facility at Moinarbond near Silchar in Assam. Railway tracks are being aligned to facilitate bulk movement of fuel. This is a major greenfield unit which will be commissioned in a few months.