IOC plans three LPG plants in Northeast to increase production

PSU major Indian Oil Corp (IOC) is planning three new plants in the Northeast to increase its LPG bottling capacity by nearly 53 per cent to eight crore cylinders annually by 2030 to meet the growing demand in the region.

IOC Executive Director (IndianOil-AOD) G Ramesh said the proposed new LPG bottling plants will come up in Mizoram, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh at a total investment of Rs 325-350 crore in a combination of wholly-owned and public-private-partnership (PPP) models.

"We are expanding our bottling capacities in order to meet the growing demand of LPG in the Northeastern region. We target to have bottling capacity of eight crore cylinders per annum by 2030 against a projected demand of seven crore units,"

IndianOil-AOD, the company's Northeast division, at present has an annual capacity to bottle 5.23 crore LPG cylinders at its nine plants, and the capacity utilisation stands at 5.11 crore units, Ramesh said.

"The total investment in this expansion exercise will be in the range of Rs 325-350 crore, which will be borne by IOC and the private partner, over the next two-three years. We are looking to engage a private player for the Arunachal Pradesh plant," he added.

The unit in Mizoram will be brownfield, while those in Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya will be set up as greenfield facilities, the official said.

The Mizoram plant, which is still at the estimation stage as adjoining lands are being acquired, will have a daily capacity of 30,000 cylinders and it is likely to cost Rs 150 crore, he added.

"The Meghalaya plant will be set up at Umiam and it will be a greenfield unit. We will invest Rs 75 crore and the plant will be commissioned by December 2023 with a capacity to roll out 7,000 cylinders every day," the official said.