Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), India’s flagship petroleum company has entered into a marketing arrangement with Nagarjuna Oil Corporation (NOCL) for selling the latter’s petroleum products. This marketing arrangement would also pave the way for bridging the current deficit in supplies of petrol, diesel and LPG in Tamil Nadu. This current deficit of around 3 million tonne in Tamil Nadu is being met by bringing in products from the West Coast Refineries. But it entails higher transport costs which results in higher retail prices for Tamil Nadu consumers.
Besides, NOCL a Chennai based company is setting up a 6-million tonne per annum petroleum refinery project entailing an investment of Rs 10,000-crore in Tamil Nadu. The project is coming up at Cuddalore, about 200 kms south of Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The company’s refinery is designed to produce around 2.7 million tonne of diesel, 0.8 million tonne of petrol, and 0.7 million tonne of LPG, which would be sufficient to bridge this deficit. NOCL’s refinery is also capable of producing BS-IV grades of petrol and diesel, which is mandatory in Chennai and Puducherry markets. NOCL’s refinery project at an estimated cost of nearly Rs 10,000 crore is the single-largest private sector investment in Tamil Nadu.
NOCL is jointly promoted by TIDCO of the Tamil Nadu government and the Nagarjuna Group of Hyderabad. The Tata Group and Trafigura of Europe are the other major shareholders in NOCL.
