Bhubaneswar: Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has urged Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to co-operate regarding establishment of proposed LPG bottling facility at Khordha, Odisha.
Pradhan was unhappy over the delay for land allocation for the facility. He wrote a letter to Patnaik stating his displeasure. He urged him to intervene and direct the concerned authorities to allot the land to IOCL for the LPG bottling facility at Khordha.
Shree Jagannath Temple Trust (SJTT) has offered IOCL a land of 32 acres on outright sale basis in March 2016 for constructing a new LPG bottling plant at Somnathpur village in Khordha district. Also, IOCL has already deposited the entire amount of Rs 28.8 crore on 30th March 2017.
Pradhan also mentions in his letter that the land was demarcated by SJTT authorities in December 2017. A copy stating the same was handed over to IOCL.
However, the land has not been handed over to IOCL so far, he mentioned.
Despite repeated requests by the IOCL State head to Principal Secretary of Law department and Chief Secretary for approving the proposal for entering into sale deed at the earliest, the land is yet to be allotted for the plant.
IOCL has also secured mandatory environment clearance on November 5, 2018. The LPG bottling facility project has also been cleared under Single Window Clearance on 6th December 2017 from Government of Odisha. IOCL also cleared that they will commence the project immediately once they receive necessary permission for sale deed.
Pradhan added that an estimated investment of Rs 150 crore has been getting delayed for close to 19 months.
He said that project will benefit all the LPG customers as it will reduce the transport charges of LPG cylinder from bottling plant to the distributor.
It is important to know here that there are already four Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) bottling facilities in Odisha. Various firms have invested an additional Rs. 100 per annum crore over and above 1.5 crore cylinder in 2014 to 3 crore cylinder in 2018.
Three new LPG bottling plants are also underway at Balangir, Rayagada and Khordha with a total cost of Rs 403 crore and one LPG import terminal at Paradip with a cost of Rs 690 crore.
Besides, IOCL has already commissioned eastern India’s first LPG pipeline with a cost of Rs 365 crore (Paradip-Balasore-Haldia) in Odisha to supply bulk LPG in a safe, cost-effective and hassle-free manner to IOCL Balasore LPG bottling plant.
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