Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) told the media that it would invest about Rs 840 crore to expand its Petroleum, Oil and Lubricant (POL) storage capacities, including setting up a greenfield facility in the Northeast region.

Executive Director of IOCL, G Ramesh, told the media that the company plans to take its POL capacities to 5,530 metric tonnes per annum (mtpa) by 2030 from the existing 3,160 mtpa.

He said that two major projects are coming up in the POL segment. The first one is setting up a greenfield depot at Sekerkote in Tripura with an investment of around Rs 540 crore and will be completed by 2024.

Currently, land clearing works are ongoing, followed by the commencement of the construction.

Ramesh said that there is another major project that we will undertake is the expansion of the Betkuchi POL depot in Guwahati. It has earmarked Rs 298 crore to increase the storage intake to 54,000-kilolitre from 25,000-kilolitre and install new fire water tanks and other facilities.

He said the company has already acquired 10.67 acres of land to expand the Betkuchi plant.

The company completed constructing a greenfield POL unit at Moinarbond, Assam. Now railway tracks are being aligned for facilitating the bulk movement of fuel.

Ramesh said that the company had invested Rs 5-4 crore in the Silchar plant. It is a major greenfield unit, and it will be commissioned within the next few months.

After the greenfield units are operationalised, over 800 people will be hired at Moinarband and Sekerkote through permanent and contract modes.

Presently, IOCL has 13 POL depots in the Northeast region, having an installed capacity of 3,160 mtpa, while the capacity utilisation is 2,428 mtpa.

An official said that after all our expansion projects are completed, the company's installed storage capacity will reach 5,530 mtpa against a projected demand of 4,950 mtpa by 2030.

IOCL had said it is embarking on a major expansion drive to enhance its LPG bottling capacity in the Northeast region by about 53% to eight crore cylinders per year by 2030 to cater to the need for cooking fuel.

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