IOC, BPCL resume work on select projects, gear up to ramp up operations post-lockdown

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IOC, BPCL resume work on select projects, gear up to ramp up operations post-lockdown
New Delhi, Apr 21 () Indian Oil Corp and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) are among the state-owned oil PSUs which on Tuesday resumed work on select projects after the government allowed partial relaxation in the nationwide lockdown.

In separate statements, Indian Oil Corp (IOC) and BPCL said they have resumed stalled activities on projects while maintaining strict cronovirus-related health and safety hygiene.

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State-owned oil firms have decided to resume as many as 511 projects involving over Rs 42,000 crore of investment with immediate effect. These projects are either in rural areas or have in situ labour for the resumption of work.

The government had last week allowed makers of information technology hardware, farmers and industries in rural areas to resume operations as it looked to revive the economy that got stalled because of the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic.

IOC said it is fully geared to ramp up operations towards normalcy for the post-lockdown scenario.

"At the same time, the Corporation is monitoring the situation on a continuous basis to ensure that the supply lines of essential petroleum products are maintained across the country, with all necessary safety protocols in place for its field force," it said.

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While global cues and the changing market scenario will guide its future strategy, IOC has already built up stocks of finished products, including petrochemicals, at its upcountry locations for future-readiness once the countrywide lockdown is lifted and the demand picks up again with resumption of economic activity.

Its refineries continue to operate at optimised capacity utilisation to cater to the needs of households and essential/emergency services, the statement said.

"IndianOil has taken up resumption of work on 64 select projects with a combined allocation of about Rs 21,375 crore, of which work has commenced on 29 projects on April 20, 2020," it said.

Major projects on which work has resumed include the Rs 3,338-crore Paradip-Hyderabad products pipeline, which traverses 1,212-km through Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana; Rs 3,028 crore augmentation of Paradip-Haldia-Durgapur LPG pipeline and its extension to Patna and Muzaffarpur, which traverses 678-km through Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Bihar; Rs 6,025 crore Ennore-Tiruvallur-Bangalore-Pondicherry-Nagapattinam-Madurai-Tuticorin R-LNG pipeline, which traverses 1,170-km through Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry and Karnataka.

Work has also restarted on other projects like grassroots LPG bottling plants, bulk storage terminals/depots, city gas distribution projects and additional facilities/tankage at existing locations, it added.

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Separately, BPCL said it has resumed 167 projects with all necessary COVID-19 protocols, involving over Rs 14,000 crore of investment.

"This effort will help in its own way in reviving the economy, apart from adding to the livelihood of more than 3,000 workers and their families during these difficult times. More than 6,000 workers would be progressively deployed on these projects," it said.

Out of these 167 projects, 84 projects are outside the municipal limits, while 83 projects are within municipal limits but have engaged residential workforce. These projects are spread over the entire value chain of the company - refineries, E&P, marketing infrastructure, pipelines, city gas distribution network and new fuel stations.

BPCL said it is likely to restart another 88 stalled projects with an estimated investment of Rs 23,210 crores in next few days, mainly in Kochi Refinery in Kerala and their City Gas Distribution network in various geographical areas, which will provide employment to another 3,600-plus. ANZ BALBAL
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