New Delhi, Jan. 1: Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) today said it would begin the process of commissioning its long delayed Rs 34,500-crore Paradip refinery in Odisha from the first quarter of 2015.
'Once fully operational, this 15-million-tonnes a year flagship refinery will further strengthen IOC's position as India's premier refiner and also add substantially to our bottomline,' director (refineries) Sanjiv Singh said in a statement.
He said commissioning would begin from the first quarter of 2015 but did not say when the full unit would be commissioned.
The project cost has escalated because of a delay in implementation, law and order problems, environment issues and the Phailin cyclone that struck Odisha in October 2013.
The refinery in Paradip was to be built by April 2012. IOC's eighth refinery was to cost Rs 29,777 crore, but the delays have now taken its cost to Rs 34,500 crore.
'All our teams have geared up to realise the successful commissioning of this dream project, which will enable us to process most difficult and cheap crudes resulting in higher profitability,' Singh said.
The refinery is configured to process the toughest, heaviest and dirtiest crude such as Maya of Mexico, which are cheaper than the cleaner and more easily processed varieties from West Asia.
The refinery will have a Nelson complexity index of 13, the highest in the world.
The Paradip refinery will produce 5.97 million tonnes of diesel, 3.4 million tonnes of petrol, 1.45 million tonnes of kerosene/ATF, 536,000 tonnes of LPG, 124,000 tonnes of naphtha and 335,000 tonnes of sulphur, all of which will be for sale in the domestic market.
Jet fuel price
State-owned oil firms today cut the price of jet fuel or aviation turbine fuel (ATF) by a steep 12.5 per cent.
The price of ATF in Delhi was cut by Rs 7,520.52 per kilolitre, or 12.5 per cent, to Rs 52,422.92 per kilolitre, oil companies announced today.
This is possibly the steepest cut in rates since ATF pricing was deregulated or freed in April 2002. The cut, effective today, is the sixth reduction in jet fuel rates since August. The price was last cut 4.1 per cent, or Rs 2,594.93 per kilolitre, on December 1.
Non-subsidised LPG
Price of non-subsidised cooking gas (LPG) was today cut by Rs 45 per cylinder as international oil rates slumped to their lowest since May 2009.
A 14.2-kg cylinder of non-subsidised LPG will now cost Rs 746, down from Rs 791 previously, in Calcutta, oil companies said.
This is the fifth straight reduction in rates of non-subsidised or market-priced LPG, which the customers buy after exhausting their quota of 12 cylinders at subsidised rates, since August.
