DHENKANAL: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday laid foundation stone for a common user petroleum facility to be utilised by three State-run oil marketing companies (OMCs) at Sadashivpur under Odapada block in Dhenkanal on Saturday.
Designed seven years ago, the project will be set up on a 50-acre land at an estimated Rs 394 crore and completed by August 2023. The investment will be shared by BPCL, HCL and Indian Oil.
Addressing the gathering, Pradhan said 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 during the construction period.
Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Rameswar Teli said the facility will cater to petroleum demands of districts like Angul, Deogarh and Keonjhar and help reduce the cost of frequent transportation of petroleum products from Paradip Terminal.
“The project which will have a state-of-the-art depot with storage capacity of about 42,000 KL has been planned for storing MS, HSD, Ethanol and Bio-diesel besides providing a coverage of 20 days in petrol and 12 days in diesel,” added Teli.
Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri attended the programme through video conferencing.
Dhenkanal MP Mahesh Sahoo urged Pradhan to favour land losers and locals in employment opportunities.
Hindol MLA Seemarani Nayak urged the Union Minister to ensure that the depot provides employment opportunities to locals on priority.
“In the past, many industries in Hindol and Odapada had made tall claims and left land losers in the lurch so the trend should ideally not continue,” added Nayak.