Foundation stone laid for Common User Petroleum Facility in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri laid the foundation stone of the Common User Petroleum Facility at Sadashivpur in Odisha’s Dhenkanal on Saturday.

The facility will help reduce the cost of frequent transportation of petroleum products from Paradeep Terminal.

Pradhan said the project will come up on a 50-acre land at an estimated cost of Rs 395 crore.

A state-of-the-art depot with storage capacity of about 42000 KL has been planned for storing MS, HSD, Ethanol and Bio-diesel. The proposed project is expected to be completed by August 31, 2023.

Pradhan said the project will cater to the rising demand of petroleum products in Dhenkanal district as well as the adjoining districts of Anugul, Deogarh and Keonjhar in Western Odisha.

These districts, which comprise one of the most mineral rich regions in India, are home to major steel, aluminum and thermal power producing units such as Tata Steel, NALCO, Jindal India Thermal Plant and NTPC.

Details on Common User Petroleum Facility

This Rs 395 crore projects, which is being led by BPCL and will be utilized by all three OMCs, will create a state-of-the-art 42,000 KL fully automated storage depot and 12 bay TLF Gantry spread over 50 acres for handling storage and supply of not only petrol, diesel but also new-age biofuels like ethanol and bio-diesel.

This CUF will receive petroleum products from IOCL’s Paradip-Ranchi-Raipur pipeline and plans are also afoot to enable receipt of product by rail.

Besides, the facility will be able to store supply worth 20 days of Petrol and 12 days of Diesel as per current demand, which is crucial for a disaster (cyclone) prone State like Odisha.

CUF Sadashibpur will not only increase the ready-supply of petroleum products in Dhenkanal but also contribute towards reduction of the logistics cost of transporting petroleum products from Paradip, the benefits of which will be ultimately passed on to the consumer.

Employment opportunties

The project will provide direct and indirect employment and bring business and economic growth to the local community, by generating approximately two lakh man days employment during the construction period.