Bhubaneswar: Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that the Centre is promoting gas based economy, which requires a massive network of pipelines for transportation of natural gas to various corners of the country.
In the first phase, Rs 70,000 crore will be invested to spread the gas pipeline network across the country, he said, while addressing the 19th National Conference on Corrosion Control organised in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday.
The Union Minister said Odisha needs a huge infrastructure to store, refine and transport natural gas to the industry doorstep from Paradip, Dhamra and Gopalpur. The Centre is contemplating to promote port-based industries in Odisha and also in other coastal states having natural ports.
The eastern part of India, including Odisha, needs a high double digit growth rate to be at par with the western parts of the country. In Odisha, approximately Rs 4,500 crore would be pumped in, to construct 1700 KM of pipeline network in the first phase, said Pradhan.
A strategic oil reserve project will also be launched in Chandikhol after acquiring land there, he added. He also said that India is planning to expand the gas pipeline network to Myanmar through Bangladesh. Under this programme, pipelines are proposed to be constructed between Dhamra to Bangladesh and Siliguri to Bangladesh to export LNG gas according to the requirement of the neighbouring nation.
He announced that the commercial production of polypropylene from Paradip refinery would commence from December. South Eastern Region Pipelines (SERPL) is presently operating cross-country pipelines network of crude oil and refined products as well as LPG of 1570 KM length with 19.35 MMTPA capacity. Under this region, India Oil has the biggest and largest crude oil handling facility at Paradip with three Single Point Mooring systems having 37 MMTPA capacity installed in deep sea at a distance of 21 KM off the coast. This is feeding the country’s four most important refineries – Paradip, Haladia, Barauni and Bangaigaon.
As future expansion plans under SERPL, laying works of the Paradip-Hyderabad pipeline of 1212 KM with a capacity of 4.5 MMTPA is in progress. Moreover, preconstruction work for the 360 KM long Paradip-Dhamra-Haladia LNG pipeline and 345 KM long Paradip-Somanathpur-Haladia pipeline is also under progress, said the Petroleum Minister. The Union Minister has called upon the participating delegates, scientists and engineers to chalk out a roadmap for the creation of better and advanced infrastructure for energy storage, refining and transportation with the utilisation of corrosion free metals in future.
The conference aims to analyse various industrial corrosion problems and provide a platform for interaction among industrialists, scientists, engineers and professionals to enhance the state of the art knowledge on “Corrosion Science and Engineering”.
The three-day conference is being jointly organised by the National Corrosion Council of India, Karaikudi, SERPL, Central Electrochemical Research Institute and Indian Oil Corporation.
