Cuttack, Dec. 26: The civic body today inaugurated a petrol pump near its Choudhry Bazaar headquarters in a bid to generate revenue to fund several ambitious welfare projects in the city.

The civic body has been looking for additional sources of revenue for some time. It hopes that the station, built with assistance from Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) for around Rs 1.40 crore, will increase its spending power. It is the second station to be managed directly by the corporation after the one at Kathajodi near Ganesh Ghat. This pump has been functioning since the 1970s.

Municipal commissioner Gyana Das said the corporation generates Rs 70-80 lakh annually from the Kathajodi petrol pump and anticipates Rs 40-50 lakh in revenue from the new pump.

"We will shortly install a point-of-sale (PoS) machine to facilitate payment through debit or credit cards. There will also be an e-lobby where people can deposit and withdraw cash along with other facilities," said Das.

The corporation had laid the foundation stone for another petrol pump at Nuapada in 2015, but land-related issues delayed the project.

Senior officials, however, said rising population and the number of vehicles on the road was the reason behind inaugurating the Choudhry Bazaar petrol pump. The pump is located in the heart of the city and will save time for commuters, an official said.

Purighat, Jhola Sahi, Pithapur, Choudhry Bazaar residents, who had to cover nearly 2-3km to the nearest petrol pumps at Mahatab Road, Bajrakabati and Buxi Bazaar, will benefit the most.

"The pump is located in a residential area and the authorities should take appropriate steps, installing fire-fighting equipment in case of emergencies," said local resident Kishore Nath.

IOCL general manger Pritish Bharat said the petrol pump had been inaugurated after getting no-objection certificates from the district administration and it adheres to other norms under the Explosives Act.

"We will keep eight to 10 fire extinguishers at the pump. We will also train the staff to operate these equipment and for other exigency measures according to the standard operation procedure for emergencies," said Bharat.

Bharat said the Kathajodi petrol pump was doing good business with nearly 7,000 litres of fuel sold per day. He said they expected sales of 3,000 to 4,000 litres from the new station at Choudhry Bazaar.