IOC hunts for land to expand
Vadodara   16-Oct-2010

The IndianOil's Gujarat Refinery has started a hunt for land for its expansion plans aimed at increasing production at its Koyali plant. The refining major is looking for land belonging to individuals and some Public Sector Undertakings in the close vicinity.

IOCL Director (Refineries) B N Bankapur told The Indian Express that the land acquisition is critical to the company's long-term expansion plans. The present capacity of the Gujarat Refinery, which was built with Soviet assistance at a cost of Rs 26 crore and went on stream in October 1965, is 13.70 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA).

"We have plans to increase our refining capacity and that is why expansion is important. We are looking at both the long-term and short-term plans for expansion. As part of our short-term plans, we have set the target of 16 MMTPA. We will soon complete the feasibility report on 16 MMTPA proposal and if things go as per our plans, we would complete the expansion in the next two years," Bankapur said.

At the time of its inception, the Gujarat Refinery had the installed capacity of 2 MMTPA and was designed to process crude oil from Ankleshwar, Kalol and Nawagam oilfields of Oil & Natural Gas Commission in Gujarat. After at least four expansion plans implemented between 1967 to date, the present refining capacity has reached 13.70 MMTPA.

However, now, the director feels things are not easy as they were in the past as far as the land acquisition is concerned. "Things will not be as easy as it used to when it comes to land. We are exploring some options available with us but for sure, we would require about 250 to 300 acres of land if we want to achieve the target of 18 MMTPA. While we are confident about the 16 MMTPA target in the short-term planning, we would not go for 18 MMTPA unless we acquire the sufficient patch of land. We might even put the plan on hold or drop it altogether if we don't get as much land as we require. The process is on to get the land," Bankapur said. Considering the geographical location of Gujarat Refinery's Koyali installation, there is a little room for the company to acquire the agriculture land. There are all possibilities that IOCL might get in touch with some of the sick PSUs, which have sizable land with them.