THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government has taken an initiative for revival of an abandoned project of the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to set up an LPG import terminal in Kochi.In view of the benefit that the state will reap from the project, the Industry Department has appointed the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) as the nodal agency for executing the project.It is alleged that the project is being delayed deliberately by vested interests to help a Namakkal-based lorry lobby. The IOC project conceived two years ago would have solved most of the cooking gas supply and distribution problems in the state.The LPG to the IOC bottling plants at Chelari near Kozhikode, Udayampeeror near Kochi and Parippally near Kollam is being brought from the Mangalapuram Port by bullet tanker lorries.Majority of the lorries are owned by Namakkal-based people who operate normally 108 lorries to the state each day.The transporting cost of a lorry is around `25,000 a day. The IOC is paying around `25 lakh a day as rent for bringing the LPG to the bottling plants.The system of paying rent has been in vogue for the last several years. The shifting of the operations to Kochi will adversely affect the business of the lorry operators.Hence, the lorry lobby is operating from behind the scene against the IOC plant project in Kochi.It is also alleged that the IOC officials are taking a negative attitude in establishing the plant in Kochi as there are moves to import LPG from a private refinery at Kadaloor.Additional Chief Secretary (Industry and Commerce) T Balakrishnan has given directive to the KSIDC following the request of Public Works Minister V K Ibrahim Kunju as the project is almost in an abandoned condition.KSIDC managing director Alkesh Kumar Sharma told ‘Express’ that a meeting with all officials of the IOC and the Cochin Port Trust will be held next week to discuss how the project can be implemented.Kunju also highlighted the risks involved during the plying of the huge bullet trucks from Mangalore.The project was granted statutory clearance through the single window clearance board of the state and other clearances from the Union Government.Sharma said that the KSIDC will take the initiative to facilitate a Memorandum of Understanding with the IOC and the CPT for providing an interim LPG unloading facility till the multi-user liquid terminal of the CPT is completed.CPT officials said that steps have been taken to start the construction of the terminal. The tender is expected to be floated next month.CPT has already transferred 37 acres of land at Puthuvypeen to the IOC and a compound wall is under construction. No steps were taken to tender the works for the construction of mounted tanks. The terminal was expected to be completed in 2011. The proposed terminal will have a capacity of six lakh tonnes a year which is 0.5 lakh tonnes more than the current demand of the state.In the present circumstances, the LPG demand in the state is increasing by eight percent and if there is no additional supply there will be acute shortage by next year. The BPCL’s Kochi Refinery meets 50 percent of state’s demand and the rest through supplies from the HPCL LPG import terminal in Mangalore.The Kochi project will also help in supplying LPG to Tamil Nadu also which will be a cheaper mode of transportation. The project is expected to get back the investment in three years.The estimated cost of the project was `170 crore which now has increased to around `300 crore.The proposed project involves activities like-import of LPG through ship, unloading of LPG by unloading arm and transportation through about 2.8-km long 12-inch ground pipeline.
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