The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : IOC’s Panipet unit to be commissioned in April 2010

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Sep 07, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

IOC’s Panipet unit to be commissioned in April 2010

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: Indian Oil Corporation’s (IOC) naphtha cracker unit in Panipat is scheduled to be commissioned around April 2010, and the company will come out with branding strategy for the petrochemical products by October, said Director (Planning and Business Development) of IOC B.M. Bansal here on Friday.

Speaking on the sidelines of an international plastics expo, IPLEX 2009, Mr. Bansal said the company had talked to major consumers and was looking for channel partners in 43 locations all over the country.

Around 700 bids had been received for channel partners and the company would scrutinise them by October, he said.

Mr. Bansal said IOC was focused on creating a strong base for its petrochemical products. “We expect 15 per cent of our revenues to come from this sector. We are looking at 25-30 per cent market share in the sector over the next two-three years,” he said.

The 1.25-million-tonne capacity naphtha cracker unit in Panipat would start work at 60 per cent capacity and would have the advantage of the huge quantities of feedstock produced by the company itself. IOC was also looking at acquisitions of upstream production capabilities in Africa and Southeast Asia.

The national oil company was keen on tapping into the vast market potential in rural India, he said. While 200 retail outlets would be opened in the current fiscal, 268 Kisan Seva Kendras, which would sell fuel as well as other products such as solar lanterns, seeds and fertilizers, would be opened in rural areas, he said. Of these, 70 were planned in Tamil Nadu.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu