Pradhan steps in for IOC Haldia refinery land nod

Kolkata: Minister of petroleum and natural gas and steel Dharmendra Pradhan has written a letter to minister of chemicals and fertilizers D V Sadanand Gowda and minister of state for ports, shipping & waterways Mansukh Mandaviya seeking their personal intervention in leasing 175 acres of land for undertaking expansion work for IndianOil’s Haldia refinery.
Pradhan in his letter stressed on the continued endeavour to be self-reliant in petroleum products and wrote that the infrastructure development in oil and gas sector is driven with an intention to expand its facilities to meet the domestic demands of quality and quantity of fuels and specialities.
He wrote about the Haldia Refinery’s increased crude processing capacity from 2.5 million tonne per annum (mmtpa) initially to 8mmtpa and the capacity to produce the best quality of fuels, lubricants and speciality products.
He further wrote that in recent times when the refinery was required to construct new units for the Bharat Stage VI standards, this could only be partially accomplished by dismantling existing storage tanks and for construction of some critical units, additional land is required. Adjacent to 175 acres in possession of Hindustan Fertilizers Corporation is on lease from KoPT.