IOC to double LPG storage at Thimmapur bottling plant

Indian Oil Corporation plans to double liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) storage capacity at its Thimmapur bottling plant, on the city outskirts, as a measure to maintain supplies to households for relatively longer duration during exigencies.

One of the two such bottling plants of the national oil marketing company in Telangana — the other too is located on the outskirts at Cherlapally — the storage capacity at Thimmapur is to be enhanced from 1,800 tonnes to 3,600 tonnes. This is to be achieved by installing three mounded storage units of 600 tonnes each.

The project, whose mandatory public hearing is scheduled later this month, would increase the number of days cover for LPG storage from 3.3 to 8 (on the basis of double shift bottling operation). It would help maintain continuity of LPG refillls to the consumers and help overcome the scarcity of bulk LPG that often surfaces when the bulk transporters resort to agitation.

Indian Oil Corporation would implement the capacity expansion project at an estimated cost of around ₹25 crore.

The project is expected to be completed in about 27 months from the date of approval of the environmental and other statutory clearances.

The investment comes close on the heels of augmentation of production capacity, from 120,000 tonnes per annum to 180,000 tonnes per annum, at the Cherallapally bottling plant it undertook last year at a cost of ₹10 crore.

On the reasons behind enhancing the storage capacity, sources in the company said the Thimmapur facility draws LPG through pipeline from Visakhapatnam-Kondapalli (Vijayawada)-Cherlapally, from where the product is moved to the plant. The project would help meet the plant’s demand for LPG for a relatively longer duration in the event of the pipeline maintenance or repair. During such times, the product is moved from Chennai or Mumbai, thus entailing more time in transportation.

The objective is to develop the facility as a strategic storage that can sustain the bottling operations in the event of bulk transporters strike.

“We don’t want the consumers to suffer... this [project] will double our capacity and [even during] any exigency we will be able to feed the market,” the official said. The LPG storage capacity at the Cherlapally plant is 2,300 tonnes.

IOC, which markets refills under the Indane brand, has a share of around 42% in the domestic LPG market comprising 94 lakh connections in Telangana.

It also has a strong presence in the commercial LPG segment.