Deora inaugurates LPG cavern in Vishakhapatnam

Visakhapatnam: A decision on the price hike of petroleum products will be taken on Jan 17, the Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mr Murli Deora said here today. Mr Deora said for the past four years the Union Government had not increased prices and the oil companies were incurring huge losses, due to the steep hike in crude prices in the international market. “There will be a meeting on January 17 and the hike will be kept at the minimum level possible. However, a final decision has not been taken yet.”

First in South Asia

Earlier, Mr Deora inaugurated the first LPG underground cavern in country. The cavern was built by the South Asia LPG Company Private Ltd, a joint venture between the HPCL and France’s Total, at a cost of Rs 333 crore, with a capacity of 60,000 tonne. It is said to be the first such project in South Asia.

LPG shortage

Mr Deora said LPG shortage was a serious problem as the number of gas connections rose from from 7.72 crore in 2003-2004 to 9.7 crore now and Andhra Pradesh from 82 lakh to 1.06 crore. The consumption of LPG had reached 11 million tonne per annum and was growing around 7 per cent per annum.

“The domestic production is 9 million tonnes and the rest is imported. We therefore need to have safe, large storage space for LPG. Caverns address that problem.” He said there were plans to build such caverns on the west coast too and Total may get those contracts too, as “they have done a good job here”.

Crude Cavern

He said the Union Government had taken a decision too build strategic storage of 5 million tonne of crude at Visakhapatnam, Mangalore and Padur, with a capacity of 1million tonnes, 1.5 million tonne and 2.5 million tonne. “Again, the work on the Visakhapatnam underground crude cavern will begin first. As always, Vizag comes first in our scheme of things,” he said. The total project cost for the three caverns would be Rs. 2,400 crore.

Golden Jubilee

The Minister also unveiled a plaque on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of the Visakha refinery of the HPCL. He said the refinery had played a crucial role in the development of Vizag from a small fishing village five decades ago to a major city now. “The HPCL will build a stadium to mark the occasion and it will be called the Golden Jubilee stadium. The Greater Visakha Municipal Corporation has to grant the site.”

Mr M.S Srinivasan, the Secretary in the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, said: “These caverns will spur economic growth of the region. The costs can also be cut down.”

Mr Arun Balakrishnan, the CMD of the HPCL, said the LPG cavern project here could be completed without any cost or time overrun. He complimented the SALPG for the accomplishment. He also spoke highly of the performance of the HPCL Visakha refinery.

Total’s expansion

Mr. Christophe Miaux, the Managing Director of Total India, said the company was immensely pleased with the completion of the project here and it would like to take up more such projects in India. “We have ambitious plans to increase our presence in India, with the co-operation of the Union Government and the various state governments. It will be mutually beneficial.”