Work On Indian Oil Corporation’s Kochi LPG Terminal To Re-Start In January

After obtaining the final clearance from the National Green Tribunal (NGT), the Indian Oil Corporation will re-start construction activities at its Rs 2,200-crore Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) import terminal-cum-pipeline project at Puthuvypeen near Kochi, reports The Business Line.

The Kerala government has issued necessary orders in this regard, and work is expected to commence in January 2019, reportedly after the Sabarimala annual pilgrim season.

NGT, in the judgment, has made it clear that, “Puthuvypeen project does not cause any environmental pollution,” S Dhanapandian, Deputy General Manager (LPG-project), IOCL said.

“IOCL was incurring a loss of Rs 1 crore per day since February 2017 due to the suspension of work at the construction site in the wake of the agitation by locals against the project,” he said.

Kerala, at present, has an average waiting period of 15 days to receive an LPG refill. This could go up if the infrastructure expansion does not happen, Dhanapandian added.

The Kochi project consists of an import terminal, multi-user liquid terminal (MULT) jetty, Kochi-Salem pipeline and the bulk LPG terminal at Palakkad with a total investment of ₹2,200 crore.