Bhubaneswar: The proposed Rs 9,000 crore commercial-cum-strategic petroleum reserve at Chandikhol in Jajpur district is stuck as the state govt in 2022 asked the Centre to explore other sites in Odisha, though a feasibility report was already prepared and an environmental impact study done, minister of state for petroleum Suresh Gopi told the Rajya Sabha on Monday.
The Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve Limited (ISPRL) did the detailed feasibility report (DFR) and geo-technical surveys for the project site in Chandikhol. The environmental impact assessment for the project was carried out by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur. In Dec 2022, Odisha requested ISPRL to explore alternative sites in Odisha. "In view of the anticipated delay in pursuing alternate land and the need for carrying out feasibility studies once again, the govt of Odisha has been requested to allocate the same land at Chandikhol for which ISPRL earlier submitted an application and completed feasibility studies," the minister added.
As per preliminary assessments, the project has the potential to generate employment for about 4,000 persons per day during the construction phase and about 150 persons per day during the operational phase.
In response to a question by Rajya Sabha members Manas Mangaraj, Sasmit Patra and Muzibulla Khan, Gopi responded that the project has the potential to be the largest reserve in the country, which will boost the GDP of Odisha and increase other auxiliary economic activities in the region.
In July 2021, the Centre approved establishment of two additional commercial-cum-strategic petroleum reserve facilities with a total storage capacity of 6.5 million metric tonnes (MMT), including the one at Chandikhol on a public-private partnership (PPP). The other project approved during the same time is the expansion of the Padur reserve in Karnataka. This facility has a storage capacity of 2.5 MMT, and the expansion plan is for another 2.5 MT, also being developed on a PPP mode.
Besides Padur, the country has two more strategic oil reserve facilities at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh (1.33 MMT) and at Mangaluru in Karnataka (1.5 MMT).