The Hindu : National : Deora seeks land for proposed refinery at Ennore

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Thursday, Mar 08, 2007
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Deora seeks land for proposed refinery at Ennore

N. Ravi Kumar

`Unit will contribute to the State's growth'

Murli Deora

CHENNAI: Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Murli Deora urged Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi on Wednesday to allocate land for a 15 million tonne refinery proposed by Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited (CPCL) at Ennore, about 30 km north of Chennai.

The project would contribute to the industrial development of the State and generate a large number of employment opportunities. It would also be important from the perspective of earnings on export of petroleum products from the country, he told The Hindu in an interview here.

Noting that around 20 million tonne petroleum products were being exported, the Union Minister pointed out that the export earnings were significant.

(Sources in CPCL said a refinery-cum-petrochemical complex was planned. The land required for the project, including a naphtha cracker unit, downstream polymer units, and a paraxylene plant, was 3,000 acres. The project was estimated to cost Rs. 33,000 crore. The Indian Oil Corporation group company had initiated a preliminary feasibility study on the project.)

Mr. Deora earlier visited the CPCL corporate office and reviewed the performance of the company that operates a refinery each in Manali, on the outskirts of Chennai, and at Panangudi near Nagapattinam. The selection of Ennore for the project was driven by the location of a port there.

On the 2007-08 Budget allocations and proposals pertaining to his Ministry, the Union Minister said granting of infrastructure status for gas pipeline projects, which would provide 10-year income tax holiday, was welcome. It would contribute to expansion of the pipeline network in the country, and in particular assist in the promotion of the `town gas supply' across the country.

While hailing the Budget proposal reducing the ad valorem component of excise duty on petrol and diesel from 8 to 6 per cent, Mr. Deora said a further reduction to four per cent would have been ideal, at least on diesel. This became important in the context of the rising crude prices.

He said the emphasis on education, health and infrastructure in the Budget would benefit the country in the long term and the Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram deserved credit for the initiatives. Noting that petrol, diesel, kerosene and cooking gas prices have not been raised, he said it was in line with the emphasis of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on maintaining them.

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