The Hindu (Madurai)

Enabling works under way for State’s second refinery in Nagapattin­am

- Deepa H. Ramakrishn­an

Enabling works, including laying of roads, constructi­on of peripheral walls and drains, and provision of lighting, are under way for the constructi­on of Cauvery Basin Refinery and Petrochemi­cals (CBRPL) project, the State’s second petroleum refinery in Nagapattin­am.

The foundation stone for the ₹33,023crore refinery with nine million tonnes per annum (MMTPA) capacity and a petrochemi­cal park was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2021.

CPCL Managing Director Arvind Kumar told The

Foundation stone for the ₹33,023crore refinery and a petrochemi­cal park was laid by the PM in 2021

Hindu that the refinery would now be constructe­d as a joint venture of Indian Oil Corporatio­n Ltd. (IOCL) and Chennai Petroleum Corporatio­n Ltd. (CPCL).

The IOCL would hold 75% of the share capital and the CPCL would hold the rest.

The cost of the refinery had been revised from ₹29,361 crore to ₹33,023 crore, an increase of around 15%.

“Recently, the

IOCL

Board approved the increase in estimate and last month the CPCL Board approved it. We have now set rolling the process of obtaining clearance from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.

It is likely to take three months and from the date of their approval, the works will take 39 months to complete,” he said.

Asked about land acquisitio­n, Mr. Arvind Kumar said the company already owned 600 acres of land, but it needed a similar stretch, which was acquired by the State government.

There was some delay due to a section of people wanting additional compensati­on, which was decided and awarded by an official committee.

“The lands were handed over to us in October 2023,” he explained. “By that time, 10% of the engineerin­g work had been done and those are proceeding as planned. The larger contracts will come into force once the clearance is obtained,” he added.

The Stateofthe­art refinery would produce petrol and diesel conforming to BSVI specificat­ions, polypropyl­ene as a valueadded product, LPG and aviation turbine fuel. It would get a desalinati­on plant for requiremen­t of the refinery and local residents.

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