With an objective to take the major grassroots and expansion projects in the state of Tamil Nadu, the Indian Oil Corporation announced that it has planned investments of around ₹2,200 crore in the state over the next two years.
The planned projects include a ‘grass-roots terminal’ at Asanur and Vallur, a ‘captive petroleum’ project, oil and lubricant-LPG jetty at Kamarajar port among others, said V C Asokan, executive director and Tamil Nadu State Head of the Indian Oil Corporation.
The executive director was on the round to reviewing the progress of the LPG Bottling plant near Kinathukadavu which lies on the outskirts of its LPG storage and distribution infrastructure.
Asokan said that the project with its Research and Development (R&D) team for the production of aluminum plates for aluminium-air batteries is rapidly progressing. He added that after the production of batteries, the aluminium will be recycled.
Apart from the ongoing projects in the Ennore-Tiruvallur sector, Bengaluru-Puducherry-Nagapattinam-Madurai-Turicorin gas pipeline, and augmentation of Chennai-Tiruchirappali-Madurai pipeline projects, the executive director detailed on the company’s plan set up integrated Lube complex at Ammulaivoyyal village on the outskirts of Chennai.
In line with fuel diversification plans, the Indian Oil Corporation has achieved 10% ethanol blending with petrol in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Asokan added that the company is now on the way to increasing ethanol blending to 20%, as per the mandate of the Union Government.
The company constitutes a 57% share in Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPS), 36.9% in petrol, and 43.9% in diesel in the state of Tamil Nadu.
On the future of fossil fuels, as the world is moving towards cleaner sources of energy including the Indian government which is pushing electric vehicles, Asokan reacted relatively assuredly and said the fuel production will not be impacted for the next 15 to 20 years.
