Lack of land parcels continues to be a stumbling block to Indian Oil Corporation’s (IOCL) projects planned in the Bhadrak and Paradip regions of Odisha. The oil marketing major is in the process of finalising 40,000 crore of investment into new projects in Odisha, but after more than a year of making online applications for land, the allotment is overdue.
In February last year, IOCL had asked for 2,290 acres of additional land to commission petrochemical units entailing an investment of 51,779 crore. However, state-owned land agency Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation is yet to transfer the land.
Irked by the delay, IOCL chairman Sanjiv Singh had written a letter to Odisha chief secretary Aditya Padhee earlier this year requesting land allocation on priority, but to no avail. “...plans of IOCL require additional land as the existing land in the refinery has already been committed to projects under execution. Without additional land, we are not in a position to firm up our plans and process with identified projects’, the letter had stated.
The oil behemoth has already spent 35,000 crore on its 15 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) crude oil refinery at Paradip. Besides, two of its projects – the purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant and petcoke gasification based synthetic ethanol plant with a combined cost of 28,000 crore -- are due to be commissioned by September 2021. The crude oil refinery, petrochemical complex and investment on different pipelines make IOCL the biggest investor in Odisha.
Taking cognizance of the issue, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan has also written to the Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to expedite the matter. “It is rather unfortunate and discouraging that the Odisha government has not allotted the required land yet for the said projects,” rued Pradhan in his letter. Unavailability of land has historically been a key irritant to setting up of large industries, despite the government’s land bank scheme with over 1.5 lakh acres in the pool.