Kochi-Mangaluru natural gas pipeline to be completed by year end

by news
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March 25, 2018

Mangaluru: The laying of the much awaited Kochi-Mangaluru natural gas pipeline will be completed by the end of this year, said Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan.

Addressing a press meet here on Sunday, March 25, he said that the work on the pipeline project is slated to be completed by month of November. The construction of terminal had been completed six years ago.

Stating that the Union government plans to create a new economic petroleum and petro-chemical related economic hub in the country, Pradhan said, ” The merger process of MRPL and ONGC Mangalore Petrochemicals Limited (OMPL) is at the final stage. The mega expansion plans, starting from land acquisition, technology selections and financial assessment are ready.”

“The present capacity of MRPL is about 15 million metric ton, and the expansion will increase it up-to 25 million metric ton” he added.

On refinery activities at MRPL, Pradhan said, ” The investment capacity after the expansion of MRPL will be around 70,000 crore. This refinery is eco-friendly, and will be receiving the crude oil from North America, Latin America and Middle East countries”.

“Earlier the refinery activities was restricted to petrol. diesel and LPG centric but post merger with OMPL it will also include petrochemicals and chemicals. The expansion will create lot of employment, additional revenue for the state”, Pradhan said.

Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas has emphasized to create more green energy and we are committed to provide BSVI standard oil to the country by April 2020. MRPL will provide BSVI standard diesel by March 2019 and BSVI standard petrol by December 2019.

Union minister also informed that there were around 81 lakhs LPG connections in the state four years ago, but now it has increased by around 50 lakh new connections to 1.46 crore LPG gas connections in the entire state.

Taking a dig at Karanataka Congress government, he said that there is no developmental agenda. “Law and order is a serious issue, and corruption is at peak in the state,” he added.