Bhubaneswar, May 5: Today the fourth meeting of the working group comprising of officials of Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) and Odisha government is scheduled to commence in New Delhi in order to solve out the incentive issue of IOCL’s Paradip refinery.
On Apr 24, a meeting in this regard was conducted in New Delhi but was unable to reach to a solution. Odisha chief secretary AP Padhi had attended the meet following which he told media that all the need information has been submitted to the working group that is needed to be discussed in the next meeting. The working group has already conducted three meetings for solving the issue but is yet to come to a solution. However, Union minister of state for petroleum and natural gas, Dharmendra Pradhan, hopes that a solution can be brought about through discussion in the working group. Finance minister Pradip Amat expected the Centre would agree to the points put forward by the Odisha government in regard to the welfare of the state. On the other hand, Sanjiv Singh, director (refineries) of IOCL states that IOCL plans to expand the capacity of the Paradip refinery from 15 million tonne per annum (mtpa) currently to 20 mtpa or beyond. An investment of Rs 4,500 crore is expected to upgrade the Paradip refinery to roll out petroleum products that would comply with BS-VI emission norms. This is expansion would hopefully generate more money and improve operating margins.
