Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Paradip Oil Refinery in Odisha

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 7 February 2016 inaugurated the Paradip Oil Refinery in Odisha. It is Indian Oil Corporation Limited’s 11th refinery, which was dedicated to the nation by PM Modi.

Built over a period of 16 years at a cost of 34555 crore rupees, the foundation stone for the Paradip Oil Refinery was laid by ex-prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on 24 May 2000.

The refinery was expected to start production in the third quarter of 2013. Due to delays the cost of refinery project has increased by 2.5 per cent.

Key highlights of Paradip Oil Refinery

• Located 140 km from the state capital Bhubaneswar, Paradip refinery is one of the most modern refineries in the world which can process cheaper high sulphur heavy crude oils. It has a complexity factor of 12.2 based on Nelson index.

• The refinery is equipped to produce fuels of premium grade Euro-IV and Euro-V quality.

• It will produce 5.6 million tonnes per annum of diesel, 3.79 million tonnes of petrol and 1.96 million tonnes of kerosene/ATF. Besides, 790000 tons of LPG and 1.21 million tonnes of pet-coke will also be produced.

• The refinery sent out its first consignment of products comprising diesel, kerosene, LPG on 22 November 2015.

• At present, the refinery will produce petrol and diesel of Bharat Stage IV (BS IV) and later will switch to BS VI quality to comply with Auto Fuel Policy.

• The finished petroleum products from Paradip Refinery will be shipped to as far as Asia Pacific, Europe, USA, and to the demand centres in the east of India, north east and to some southern states like Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

• The refinery is equipped with 11 crude oil tanks to store high-sulphur heavy crude, with 58 petroleum product and intermediate tanks.

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