Prime Minister inaugurates Indian Oil’s Paradip refinery

Says new work culture of completing projects before time needed

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday dedicated to the nation Indian Oil's R34,555- crore refinery here, that has helped the state-owned firm overtake Reliance Industries to again become country's top refiner.

The 15-million-tonne-perannum Paradip refinery was built over nearly 16 years. The then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had on May 24, 2000 laid foundation stone of the ninth plant of IOC.

Prior to Paradip, its eight refineries had a cumulative capacity of 54.2 MT of crude oil. Paradip helped IOC overtake Reliance Industries, which has twin refineries at Jamnagar in Gujarat with a capacity of 62 MT.

Modi said the Paradip refinery will create lakhs of jobs as it will manufacture raw material for several industries, including plastics.

With the country dependent on imports to meet 79% of its oil needs, Modi said oil imports have to be reduced.

“When in 2022 we celebrate 75 years of Indian independence, import of oil should be reduced by 10%,” he said, adding the Petroleum Ministry and oil companies will take this challenge to make In- dia self sufficient in energy.

India spent $112.7 billion on import of 189.4 million tonne of crude oil in 2014-15 fiscal year.

Modi said most of India's oil import comes from the Gulf countries. The aim is that oil that comes from 'khari' (Gulf countries) should be added to oil from 'jhadi' (bio-fuel).

“Khari ka tel aur jhadi ka tel milana hai (We have to mix oil from Gulf with oil from shrubs),” he said.

While ethanol produced from sugarcane can be mixed with petrol, non-edible oil from Jatropha curcas can be added to diesel. These will not only cut oil imports but also protect environment, he said.

After meeting requirement of sugar sector, surplus cane can be used to produce ethanol, he said.

The unit will manufacture 78 crore kg of LPG, 500 crore litres of petrol, 660 crore litre of diesel, 250 crore litre of kerosene and ATF, 27 lakh quintal of sulphur and 120 lakh qunital of petroleum coke.

Located 140 km from Bhubaneswar, Paradip refinery is one of the most modern refineries in the world which can process cheaper high sulphur heavy crude oils. It has a complexity factor of 12.2.

It will produce 5.6 million tonne per annum of diesel, 3.79 million tonne of petrol and 1.96 million tonne of kerosene/ATF. PTI