Union petroleum and natural gas minister Hardeep Singh Puri with CM Suvendu Adhikari at the India Energy Week 2027 curtain-raiser in Kolkata on Monday
Kolkata: Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is planning to expand its operations at Haldia with a potential chemical downstream project after CM Suvendu Adhikari urged the company to invest in the port town at a meet on the India Energy Week (IEW) 2027, IOC chairperson Arvindar Singh Sahney said on Monday. We shall table the proposal at the board in due course,” Sahney said on the sidelines of a curtain-raiser event for IEW 2027 in Kolkata. Experts said a project of this nature could attract an investment of Rs 5,000 crore to Rs 6,000 crore. Adhikari said earlier that IOC had sought 175 acres for new projects. He had spoken to the Haldia Development Authority to arrange 85 acres, with the remaining land to be arranged through the Kolkata Port Authority. Union petroleum and natural gas minister Hardeep Singh Puri , who was in Kolkata for the IEW 2027 curtain-raiser, said the event would be held in the city for the first time at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s insistence. He said the Centre had earmarked Rs 84,000 crore for exploration and production.
Sahney did not give an investment figure but said IOC had sought additional land for the project, which the state govt has agreed to provide. “I have already spoken to the port authority and necessary arrangements will be made,” Adhikari said. Addressing concerns over LPG supply, Puri said oil marketing companies faced large under-recoveries but remained “good corporate citizens”.
“We are thinking of expanding at Haldia. This could be a chemical downstream project.