PM Modi to inaugurate `35,000-cr IOCL refinery

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to inaugurate the much awaited Rs 35,000 crore refinery project of Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) here in March next year, Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Sunday.

The 15 MTPA capacity oil refinery project of IOCL, now in final stage of completion, is expected to be commissioned in March 2015, Pradhan said while laying the foundation stone of a Poly-Propylene plant here.

Recalling that former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had laid the foundation stone for the refinery project, Pradhan said its inauguration would be done by Modi. Describing the state-of-the-art refinery as the largest of its kind in the country, the minister said it would refine all kinds of crude and produce petrol, diesel, LPG, propylene and ATF. Paradip Refinery, which is set to be among the most advanced refineries in the country, would cater to the energy needs of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and West Bengal, he said.