Chennai:

Says IOC marketing director Dr N G Kannan: "The 526-km CTM pipeline and a 156-km branch line from Asanoor to Sankari will involve an outlay of Rs 381.21 crore. The initial capacity will be 1.8 million tonnes per annum (tpa) with a facility to expand to 2.33 million tpa."

While the pumping facility for the initial 1.8 million tpa will be in Chennai, as and when the capacity is increased, an intermediate pumping facility will be set up at Asanoor. The pipeline will transport motor spirit and high-speed diesel, and can also carry naphtha and aviation fuel.

"The project will be completed by January 2005. The Tamil Nadu government has assured us full support in giving the right of way permissions," he adds. According to him the LPG import facility at Ennore for meeting the increased demand of LPG in the state will involve an outlay of Rs 150 crore. An automated super terminal at Ennore for Chennai and adjoining areas is also being planned.

"We want to decongest the existing terminals at Tondiarpet and Korrukupet in Chennai," says Dr Kannan. IOC owns around 160 acres in the Ennore area and it wants to put the land to use with these projects. Of the 6 LPG bottling plants that have been completed at a cost of Rs 133.50 crore, two are in Tamil Nadu (Chengalpattu and Kinathukadavu), at an outlay of Rs 52 crore.

On the retail distribution side, IOC plans to open 53 more outlets in the state at an outlay of Rs 27 crore this fiscal. "On an all-India basis we plan to add 372 more petrol bunks at an outlay of Rs 205 crore," he adds. For 2004-05, IOC has charted Rs 350-crore retail outlet expansion plan in Tamil Nadu alone. "The idea is to meet the private competition as and when it appears."

Similarly in the first phase, the corporation plans to automate 115 retail outlets in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry at a cost of Rs 12 crore, putting an end to fuel adulteration. On a nationwide basis, IOC plans to automate 1,000 outlets at an outlay of Rs 120 crore.

A major nationwide branding exercise is also on the anvil. About 500 retail outlets have been certified for quality and quantity by Bureau Veritas. The target by December 2003 is over 1,000 retail outlets. Part of the scheme is the training given to 6,000 pump attendants, 375 pump managers and 250 dealers. The outlets will have different colour scheme and different service level.

On the LPG retail side, IOC has started designating some of its distributors as Star Distributors, based on their service delivery levels. This exercise has been kicked off in Hyderabad and Chennai and later will be extend to other cities.

Similarly, a toll-free number for customer services has been launched. "IOC has set up 23 auto-gas dispensing stations in four metros besides Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Lucknow and Tirupathi.